


78 Miles South

by sleepyguts (Sleepyguts)



Category: Everyman HYBRID, MLAndersen0, Marble Hornets, TheSunVanished
Genre: Also a bit of "Patrick looks for Jay in every new reality" AU, Bc i have zero self control, Blood and Injury, But theres a warning in the notes whenever its gory, Crush at First Sight, Emotional Hurt, Found Family, Graphic Description, Head Injury, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Like. The gore is wild sometimes, M/M, Michael confirmed bi??? (not clickbait) (we died), Mutual Pining, Other, Relationship Issues, Seth needs more love so take him, Shaun is Dead, Some hurt/comfort, TheSunVanished AU, evan sorta crushes on jeff, jay has heterochromia, people die
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-28
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 06:54:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 35,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22442923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sleepyguts/pseuds/sleepyguts
Summary: The news were first broadcasted a couple of days ago. "RIOTS BREAK OUT AFTER SUN DISAPPEARS"Jay was the first one to start tweeting about it, while Tim went out to investigate. The city was empty within just a few hours, people leaving, fleeing in panic. Stores were being broken into, desperate families grabbing everything they could, while others still stayed for a while longer to find out what was going on.Tim, upon first-hand meeting one of the sources of danger outside, immediately gathered Jay and everything useful they could get into their car, leaving, away from the place that had been their home for the longest time.Keeping people updated on Twitter, Jay gets in contact with somebody named Michael, who mentions that he is left alone witout any proper tools for defense in the next city, asking if they could come pick him up while on their way. TIm still protest for a while but eventually gives in to Jay's pleas.
Relationships: Jay Merrick/Timothy "Tim" Wright, Jeff/Alex Kralie, implied Patrick Andersen/Jay Merrick
Comments: 13
Kudos: 27





	1. Onism

**Author's Note:**

> First little thing for the TheSunVanished AU! ALso first post. Cheers.

Michael had been dragging his ankle after himself for so long now that the skin around it had started to bruise and gain scratches from it. Blood had soaked into his jeans, drying out already, progressively hardening the fabric and making it feel uncomfortable, swaying forth and back with each step. The streetlights had been out for a few days now, but Michael didn't mind much- he rather appreciated it. Less light meant less possibilities to be spotted by those creatures, those _things,_ that had already taken so many people around here and left those who managed to survive and escape in pure terror. Especially since the incident in which he got injured the shadows wrapping themselves around Michael were more comforting than they made him uncomfortable.  
Finally, after a while of walking and following along the main road leading right through the centre of the city, the train station was in sight. Checking the picture he made of his DMs with Jay (which he screenshotted to avoid having to open any battery draining apps, like Twitter, in case he wouldn't have a chance to charge his phone) he assured himself again that he was waiting in the spot they had agreed on, before taking a look at the time. 9:27 pm. Only 3 more minutes until he would be picked up.

Putting down his bag first, Michael settled on the nearest bench. Slowly he raised his leg to rest it for a while, exhaling soundly in relief when the pressure was taken off it and the pain eased a little. He wanted to take a look at the injury, see how bad it really was, but on the other side he wasn't sure whether he really would've been able to handle the sight. Judging by the pain the wound must've been pretty deep, probably dirty and sticking to his pants, too. His choice was taken from him rather quickly though when the sound of a car was coming closer, making Michael perk up his head, turning it towards the direction the noise was coming from. The door opened.  
"Come on in! We're here to pick you up"  
Sliding down his leg from the bench, slowly, Michael put his bag over his shoulders again, waddling towards the car. Despite the stinging pain rushing though his leg and into his waist he went rather fast, just wanting to finally sit in a car after wandering around by foot for hours. The lights inside were on, but it was only when he sat on the back seat, immediately shutting the door and locking it, that he could see the two men in the front seats. His breath stopped for a moment and he swears that he had never seen somebody as lovely as the brunette that had turned around to look at him, holding out his hand for Michael to take as a greeting.

"I'm Jay"  
-"Michael"  
"I'll care for your leg once we get to a place we can stay at. I should have some bandages and wound infection spray in my travel pharmacy bag. You otherwise alright?"  
-"Yea, think so. Thanks for picking me up"  
Jay smiled a little and locked eyes with Michael for a moment, which made him catch a little detail about him he hadn't noticed at first. While Jay's left eye was a bright, clear blue with darker freckles in it his right was of a chocolaty brown, being so dark it could've been mistaken for black at the first glance. Michael had never seen anything like it before.  
"Oh, meet Tim, too. My fiancé"  
Tim had looked out the window all the time, checking the area, making sure none of these creatures were around. Upon being mentioned he only half-heartedly nodded into Michael's direction for moment, his voice deep and hoarse.  
"We should go. I don't trust this place at all"  
Starting the car he made his way down the main road again, rather slow to not unnecessarily alert anybody (or, any _thing_ ).

"So, you on your own?"  
Michael sighed, fiddling with his hands, thinking a moment before answering.  
-"I had a brother, but. Well. He tried to chase off one of those things creeping around our house and it got to him. I wanted to help when l heard him scream but l was too scared. Feel pretty bad I didn't do anything"  
Jay turned to look at him, worry and sympathy filling his pretty eyes. He comfortingly rested a hand on Michael's shoulder, taking a longer look at him. His dirty-blonde hair was messy, falling into his face slightly, having some soil crumbs stuck in it here and there. He had some scratches on his cheeks, a bruise around his eye and was unshaven, dark bags under his glassy, tired eyes. Jay also spotted a few torn areas on his shirt, dirt stains and small leftovers of blood from tiny scratches.  
"I'm so sorry. What was his name?"  
-"Shaun"  
"It's not your fault. There's nothing you could've done. I'm glad you're still alive, though. You can stay with us as long as you want to"  
Tim let out a huff, having been quiet for the past few minutes, just listening to the conversation. It had taken a lot of convincing and begging from Jay for him to accept picking up a random stranger from nowhere to join them, and he still wasn't very fond of it, especially since Michael's injury would definitely slow them down. For a while now he had his eyes on the fuel level. It was already glowing bright red, the exclamation mark next to it indicating that they could run out very soon. He didn't want to tell Jay just yet to not worry him, hoping that they could still make it to the nearest town, where they could simply seek shelter at an abandoned house for a while, or maybe even find other cars that they could suck some fuel from. He was nervous, though, his hands grasping tightly onto the steering wheel.

For a good 20 minutes they kept on going, Michael and Jay chatting away. Jay just told him about how they found out about what was happening, Tim’s encounter with one of the creatures, Tim in general, how they met, their wedding plans, just drifting further and further away from the situation they were in right now, but Michael didn’t mind at all. Usually Tim would’ve loved listening to Jay just ramble on, but by now it was only distracting him and he tightened his grip so hard he could see his knuckles turning white. He kept his eyes locked on the road, progressively getting more annoyed.  
“Jay, can you just be quiet? I’m trying to focus on driving”  
-“I’m not even that loud”  
“Just be quiet for a few minutes. Please”  
Gazing over at Tim Jay tilted his head, confused.  
-“But I’m talking to Michael right now”  
“And I don’t care, just shut up for a while, Jay”  
His voice turned out rougher than he wanted to but Jay didn’t protest any further, sinking back into his seat and crossing his arms, pouting. At least for a moment he didn’t say anything anymore, until he murmured more to himself than to anybody else.  
-“See this is why we keep having fights, you won’t let me talk”  
Michael shifted in his seat a little, trying to ignore the upcoming argument by just looking out the window to focus onto the buildings and signs they passed. Tim huffed, running a hand down his face.  
“Jay, do we really need to talk about this right now”

-“Yes we do because you always avoid it”  
“I don’t feel like talking about our private issues right now”  
-“You never do”  
“Jay, we don’t need this right now”  
-“Why not?”  
“Because nobody but us has to know and, if you didn’t already forget, we have somebody in the backseat right now. Added to that, we’re almost out of fucking fuel and I’m just not in the mood for any drama right now, so just shut up.”  
-“Out of fuel? So we’ll have to walk?”  
Tim didn’t answer, sighing, Michael feeling his chest tighten in worry. He wasn’t the fastest right now and feared he would hold them back, maybe even get them into any danger or worse, injured or killed even. The possibility made him worry. They were in an area further away from any city by now and had definitely passed at least one forest, which offered enough spaces for any of the creatures to hide in and wait out. They were probably just waiting for prey, for people to leave the cities and come by.  
He had started shaking. It was like he could hear the clicking sound, like he could see the flickering lights switch from white to red as they spotted them, charging towards the car to break the windows and tear them to pieces, ripping out their-  
“Michael? Are you okay? You look pale”  
The hand on his shoulder brought him back to reality fairly quickly and he tensed for a moment, before relaxing again and giving Jay a small smile.  
-“Yea. Just, thinking of Shaun”  
“If you want to talk, I’m here”  
-“Thanks”  
  
Something felt different. Now, he only knew Jay for like an hour, but there was just something drawing him to the slim brunette with the two-tone eyes. He couldn’t quite point out what it was, Jay’s way of talking, his smile, his general aura; Michael guessed that it probably was just the fact that he had been alone for so many years now and finally had somebody making him feel like he was being cared for, even if just a bit. Not that Shaun wasn’t checking on him, but they had their fights, and that fairly often, to the point where the thought of his brother visiting just exhausted him.  
It was confusing. Michael had been pretty sure that he was straight, despite never really having been in any long-term relationship, but now that he thought of it, men weren’t all that bad either. He just shrugged it of for now though, especially because Jay had Tim, and anyways, it wasn’t anything more than finding Jay attractive, probably.  
Michael was suddenly pulled away from his thoughts when the car stopped, Tim swearing. It had eventually run out of fuel in the middle of the road, no other cars or buildings nearby. Jay began to get a little scared, shifting in his seat.  
“Why did you take this road anyways? We should’ve stayed on the highway!”  
-“I thought we could make it to the next village! It was closer than the city we wanted to go to.”  
“We’re in the middle of nowhere. There’s nothing here but a field and a goddamn forest! I’m not walking”  
-“We have to. It’s not that far anyways”  
“I’m not getting out of this fucking car, Timothy!”  
-“Well I’m not leaving you behind. You’ll get out of this car with us, grab what you can carry and we will walk the last few miles”  
Michael looked left and right, gulping, fiddling on his collar and pulling his jacket tighter around himself. He really didn’t like the fact that they had to walk but they had no other choice. Waiting out here would be an even worse decision. They had to keep going.  
“I’m scared”  
-“I know. But I’m here, I’ll make sure you’ll be fine, okay?”  
“...fine”  
  


Jay eventually nodded, waiting for Tim to get out of the car first. He went round to the back, opening the luggage space, grabbing one of the big bags. Michael kept looking around them, feeling watched but was unable to see anything, any movement, any figure.  
“Got everything?”  
Tim sighed, nodding, looking at the car once more.  
-“Everything I can carry, yea. Let’s just keep following the road so we won’t get as close to the forest or field and we should be fine.”  
Looking at Michael, smiling but being unsure Jay nodded again, starting to follow after Tim and trying to not look left or right. It was hard to breathe, fear blocking his throat and likely squeezing his ribs together. Despite trusting Tim’s judgement he feared that they might be spotted anyways, would have to fight, that they wouldn’t make it out. Once seen it was almost impossible to properly escape with no building around they could hide in, and he just hoped that the next house was near and had running water and electricity.  
With every step Michael felt the pain rush from his leg into his waist, spreading through his entire body, up his spine and making him dizzy. It hadn’t gotten any better and he was slow, noticing how he unwillingly forced the other two to match his pace. It was uncomfortable to know he held them back, despite Jay helping him out a little every now and then, letting him lean against him for a while and taking some pressure off his injured leg.  
  
“Tim? I think I heard something”  
The man walking in front immediately stopped, turning to look at his worried fiancé, who anxiously pointed to the right, towards the field.  
“I heard a rustle”  
For a moment Tim’s heart stopped beating. Several times before Jay had claimed to see or hear things, back at their old home, and often those turned out to be nothing but a hallucination, caused by the contaminated water as they later found out through tweets of people in the same situation as them. But he was still alarmed, trying to remain calm, moving closer slowly and whispering to them.  
-“Just keep going. As quiet as possible”  
Michael and Jay nodded, grabbing onto their luggage to prevent anything from rustling, carefully taking their steps. All three men were shaking, breathing fast and heavily, but the rustle kept coming back, following after them. Bit by bit it came closer, stopping for a while, but soon replaced by something else.

Michael was the first one to notice. On the road he could see the shine of a light which was obviously behind them, stopping in place. It was flickering, accompanied by a silent clicking sound, and just when it started Jay came to a halt too.  
He felt like all air was pressed out of his lungs at once, leaving him feeling hollow, lost and overwhelmed with the situation. Running was no option – his leg didn’t allow him to and walking at this slow speed was already excruciating. The thought that he definitely would be left behind crossed his mind, and before he could even begin to accept or further consider it, the light behind them switched from white to red, the clicking getting louder.

  
Jay’s gaze was filled with pure panic.  
He looked at Michael first, then Tim, frozen in place. His legs had just stopped listening to his commands, wouldn’t move, helplessly sticking him to the place he was in. They had been spotted. Had been targeted. Had been chosen as prey. And then everything happened way too quickly.  
Tim’s first instinct was to grab Jay by the wrist, pulling him close and after him. He didn’t think of Michael, trying to ease his mind with the thought that he would’ve died anyways, he was too slow, was injured; just, any thought that would’ve stopped him from only dragging Jay after him and leaving the other man behind. Jay couldn’t even react at first, paralyzed, staggering after Tim and only looking back at Michael who desperately tried to run. He wanted to say something, call for him, but the only thing he was able to press out was a silent whine.  
  
Michael didn’t come far.  
He tried, he really did. But his leg just gave up on him.  
He tripped.  
The light rapidly coming closer, the clicking becoming even louder than before. It was so close, he could hear it’s footsteps. It was there. It was reaching for him, and Jay and Tim were still running.

  
Before Michael was attacked Jay turned away, forcing himself to push forwards and not allow his guiltiness to make him stay back and attempt to rescue somebody already lost. Tim said something but it was drowned by a scream, a long, painful scream, making Jay feel dizzy and sick to his stomach. He wanted to stop, throw up and wait for the nausea to fade, but they didn’t have the time to stop. Tim used the moment in which the thing was distracted to pull Jay into the forest on the other side of the road with him, where they crouched behind some bushes, clinging to each other.  
Jay was crying, shaken by sobs which he tried to muffle, Tim holding his hands over the shaking man’s ears when another pain-filled scream ripped through the air. It was stretched, soon drowned out by gargling, and Tim just kept Jay pressed to his chest. Both had closed their eyes, just begging for it to be over, begging for it to stop; it felt like hours until it finally did.  
The clicking had gotten quiet as well, nothing but the slight wind and Jay’s little sniffs and sobs left to be heard. They just sat in silence for a few minutes, scared of coming out of their hiding spot just yet. Both were unable to move, the shock still sitting deep in their bones, making them feel heavy. Affectionately, Tim brushed Jay's hair out of his face, stroking his cheeks and kissing his forehead.

Tim was the first one to speak up after a while, when Jay had started to calm down a little, leaning in and whispering into the brunette’s ear while comfortingly stroking his back.  
“Come on. Let’s keep going. Only a few more miles”


	2. You'll be my nightmarish beating; Journeys end in lovers meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the incident of losing Michael, Tim and Jay cotinued on forwards, hiding in the next best building they came across. Jay kept people updated, also to explain what happened, asking for any helpmas they no longer had a car.  
> Somebody named Jeff was first to contact them, telling them that he and a few other survivors had teamed up in a hideout together, some miles away from where Tim and Jay were hiding at the moment. They were still waiting for a little longer until they would continue on towards the next bigger city, offering them to come join them and meet halfway along the way.

It took Jay a few tries until he succeeded in getting up. His legs still felt heavy, everything hurting and his head was spinning. Even after the noises from the attack had stopped, it was like they were still echoing in the back of his mind, jumping off the inner walls of his skull, multiplying and ringing loudly. Tim wasn’t much calmer himself but was more successful at swallowing it down, relaxing as much as possible to give Jay a sense of safety and something to rely on.  
“I’ve got you. We’ll just follow down by the street, through the forest maybe so we will be a bit more hidden.”  
Jay only nodded in return, holding onto Tim’s arm. He just tried to not think of what happened minutes ago, not think of Michael or any of this at all. Just go forwards, follow Tim, trust him to know what he’s doing, be quiet, keep taking steps; left, right, left, right, left, right. His fast beating heart was likely hammering against his ribs from the inside.

The forest seemed to stretch out before Jay’s eyes, never ending, curling and twisting into a mess of shadows and greyish colours. He could barely even see Tim in front of him, blending in with the rest of the surroundings. Maybe they should never have left their home in the first place. Jay was blaming himself, for getting Tim into this, not helping Michael, being unable to do anything now. For leaving behind the body of the man they had promised to take along with them to safety that would continue just lying there, eventually rotting, being nibbled on by animals until it was nothing but bare bones.  
He didn’t even want to think about what exactly he looked like now, didn’t want to imagine, but he couldn’t help it once the thought had been there. Maybe a limb was missing. Maybe his throat had been sliced, or he had been decapitated, maybe torn up until his guts were spread out all around him.  
Jay just hoped it had been over quick. He wouldn’t have wanted Michael to bleed out or suffer for a long time.

  
Time moved differently now. Jay no longer had any concept of how long he and Tim kept walking, whether it had been minutes or hours or days, his body was aching anyways and the severity of his exhaustion didn’t help to in any way indicate how much time had passed since they had started following the road. Tim felt his thighs hurting, cramping up from the strong, fast steps he took, hurrying to get as far away from the place of the incident as possible. He was pretty sure that in the distance he could already see the first few buildings, which gave him the motivation he needed to keep going forwards.  
Added to that, the fields on the other side of the road ended just a few steps ahead, the forest already starting to clear up bit by bit, and relief replaced the shock that had been tying a knot in Tim’s chest. A town meant houses, houses meant safety, and if they were lucky they maybe even found a new car they could take, even if just to go back and refill their own car that they had to leave behind.  
“Look, Jay, we’re almost there. Just a little bit”  
-“Y..yeah”  
  


Once they had passed the sign telling the name of the town, which was pretty much unreadable, Tim immediately relaxed a little more, pulling Jay some closer and wrapping an arm around his waist. He could feel the taller man shake but less so than he still was a few moments ago. Jay was scanning the area with his gaze, spotting a supermarket not too far away. He was trying to get himself back together, just thinking of what to do now and ignoring what had happened earlier.  
“Maybe we can stay there for a while or look for anything we could need? I just want to sit down and eat something, I need to rest”  
Tim agreed, slightly tightening the grip around Jay and taking his bag off him.  
-“Here. Let me carry that for the rest of the way. Anything in certain we need?”  
Jay tried to remember the things he had packed, going through the list in his mind.  
A _few tins of soup, some microwave food, scissors. His small to-go pharmacy with bandages, painkillers and wound disinfection spray. A butter knife. Two forks, two spoons, plastic plates and cups. A blanket._  
“Did you take the water bottles from the car?”  
-“They were too big and heavy to take them all along. Michael took 3 of them I think”  
“Maybe there’ll be some in the store”  
The two were whispering as quietly as possible while sneaking the last few feet along the sidewalk, silently crawling into the store through the hole in the broken glass door. The shelves were messy, things all over the ground, furniture thrown over. But none of that was unexpected; after the riots and mass panic people broke into stores, grabbing what they could get before fleeing cities and towns in panic.  
  
They went to the front counter, putting their bags behind it and taking a small break before going through the store to see what was still left. Things like ready packed sandwiches and other were already gone, but Jay was sure he would find something. Digging through squished bread, spilled cans and broken jars he looked for anything they could drink, hoping that he would find a few bottles people had missed.  
Tim meanwhile was wandering the gardening and household sections, walking past broken brooms and garden utensils, on the lookout for something sharp that could be used as any form of weapon. He didn’t plan to go out to kill any of those creatures, rather avoiding them, but he would need something to defend himself in case any of them ever attacked Jay or him. All they had taken along was a kitchen knife, and he would leave that one to Jay.  
“Found anything yet?”  
He jumped for a moment when suddenly Jay was next to him, taking his hand. He looked disappointed.  
-“Not really. You?”  
Jay shook his head, sighing. He looked tired.  
“Nothing. All that’s left is either broken, far beyond the best before date or nothing we need, at least food. I do think we can get some fuel though. Now we only need a car”  
Tim turned to look at him, cupping his face gently and pulling his fiancé a little closer down to kiss his forehead. He felt him shaking still, even if it was just slightly, but he looked a little relieved.  
“Somebody on Twitter texted me earlier. I just wanted to update our site, and this account of a guy named Jeff had messaged me per dm. He said he is contacting us on behalf of Jessie”

Tim blinked, needing a moment to process that information.  
-“What did he say?”  
On one hand, hearing about his brother apparently being alive was obviously a relief. They hadn't seen each other in a whole while, but because of the contact between them being more of an on and off situation calling him hadn't been his first instinct. However, Tim wasn’t sure if he liked where this was going. After what happened with Michael he wasn’t really fond of picking up another stranger again, just planning to stick to their route. But he could also see the hopeful spark in Jay’s eyes, the desperation of finally wanting to have somebody else with them that could help them out. And even if this wasn't the best moment for a family reunion, teaming up with Jessie and watching over him now felt like an obligation.  
“He said that he is staying at a house for a while now with a few other survivors. It seems they always stay in one place until they have to move on to find new resources to live off. So, he offered that we could come join them. They need to leave again by the end of the week, so we should have enough time to get there.”  
Tim was sceptic.  
-“How far away are they?”  
“Judging by what he told me, we are currently at the edge of one of the hotspots. Their hideout seems to be in a safe coldspot area, and he said once we decide to join them he would give us the exact location. We could also meet them halfway, so that we can then go back to their place by car. They can’t come all the way here to pick us up, because they want to save as much fuel as possible.”  
Tim nodded. From what he knew through the things Jay told him, hotspots were areas that were more likely to have creatures roam them. Coldspots, which were noticeably colder by temperature, were rather safe, as the creatures avoided them. He thought for a while. While it did sound nice to go with a group, he really didn’t want to wander around much.  
-“How far do we have to get to meet them halfway?”  
“The next big city, from their place, is a good 37 miles away. We could meet them at one of the bigger parking lots, by one of the rest areas along the main road. It’s like 20 miles from here I think. But, we can definitely try and get a car. I’ve seen some already, most people seemed to have just left them here. We could get some buckets or anything, suck fuel from other cars and just, fill one up as much as we can. I really don’t want to stay here for long”

They settled back behind the counter table, leaning their backs against the wall and digging through the stuff they had in their bags. It wasn’t much, but neither one of them was really in the mood to eat much anyways.  
“Okay. I’ll let Jeff know that we leave as soon as we find a car?”  
Shuffling some closer he leant his head against Tim’s shoulder, who nodded, putting an arm around him. They didn’t have any other options anyways, and anything that would help them to keep going for a while longer seemed like the best option to choose, rather than trying it on their own.  
-“Yea. We should rest a bit first, then we start looking for one.”


	3. Elysium

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After being picked up by Jeff and Evan, Jay and Tim finally get to meet the rest of the group, reuniting with a family member he hasn't seen in quite a while. They take their time to rest, finally getting some sleep after the stressful last days. However, they are recieving an unexpected guest, begging for shelter and to be left in.

Jay checked his phone.  
He was at only 21%, frowning, hoping that soon enough he could charge it. Despite nobody picking up when trying to call police or ambulance it was still a big comfort, especially because it was the last thing tying him to the rest of the survivors that were out here; this large community of people who shared the same problem, all willing to help each other in any way they could. He had lost count of how many days it had been since this whole mess started, his perception of time distorted, mixed up by what he had already went through. It must’ve been around 2 months at minimum he guessed, not much longer.  
When he got another notification he already feared Jeff would tell them it would take a while longer, something maybe happened, but instead it was a reassuring message.  
 _-2 more minutes, then we will be there._

“Cold?”  
Tim looked over at Jay, who had wrapped his arms around himself, shaking his head as a simple reply.  
-“No, I’m fine. They’ll be here in a few anyways”  
He wondered what the group would be like – what sort of stories had brought them together, what everybody had went through so far. If they had lost people, had to leave people behind; what made them decide to continue on all together in the way they did. What they were like. Especially Jessie.  
Jay had heard about him before but never met Tim's brother, which, considering that Tim didn't like to talk about his family much, wasn't so unusual.  
Tim seemed to worry even more than him, but more about how safe it was. He had hinted at his worry of them maybe just meeting up to steal their stuff, to fuck them over and leave them behind, but Jay was sure they wouldn’t go out of their way to drive out here just to do that, which more or less convinced his partner that this really was the best option they could’ve went with.  
“Let’s hope so. I don’t wanna stay here much longer than needed”  
The rest area wasn’t surrounded by anything to shield it, nothing but benches, open space around and a few singular bushes on the sides, which didn’t offer a lot of protection or possibility to hide. Besides them there were only 2 other cars, both empty, windows smashed in. There was a public toilet, but the door had been kicked in, so that wouldn’t have been a hiding spot either. He was ripped out of his thoughts when a car pulled into the parking lot, Jay waving at the person in the driver’s seat, who waved back.

He and the other person on the front seat got out, greeting Jay and Tim. One of them was around Jay’s height, while the other was shorter than Tim. Both looked friendly but drained by the events, helping to get all their stuff into the trunk, while introducing themselves as Jeff and Evan.  
Jeff and Jay were still carrying stuff from one car to the other while the two other men did their best to fill the fuel they had brought into the tank and finally all four got in, starting their journey back to the group hideout.  
Jeff was the first one to start a conversation.  
“So, come a long way?”  
-“Sort of. We had to leave our home because it was right in the middle of a hotspot and it got too dangerous to stay there. Thanks for picking us up”  
“Not a big deal. We formed this group to help people, after all”  
-“So, are you a big group?”  
Evan turned around to look at Jay on the backseat, smiling. He looked kind, his dark brown hair a little messy and slightly tied back into a short ponytail.  
Jay figured he just hadn’t had any chance to cut it ever since this all started, as it seemed to be growing out of the haircut he had before.  
“Well, not really. Counting in Jeff and me, we are 4 people. We didn’t really find many others so far. Many of them are just, too far away from us or too scared to leave the places they’re staying at right now. Which is understandable. We had somebody stay for a few days, but they decided to continue on on their own to meet with a friend”  
-“I can’t wait to meet the others”  
“I’m sure they’ll be excited too! It’s always nice to know we found more survivors. They start getting rare, sadly”  
Tim nodded along, not sure why he felt so weird about the thought of seeing his brother again. Maybe just because it had been so long.

The drive took about an hour. They went comparably slow, carefully, also because Jeff kept looking out if he could see any other people along the road that they could’ve picked up. They passed some more buildings but were unable to see anybody, and Jeff didn’t necessarily want to get out of the car and check inside either. It was way too dangerous to do so, especially since they still weren’t quite out of the hotspot area, and a creature might as well could’ve been inside the building.  
They usually didn’t do that, only when definitely knowing that somebody was inside; but the possibility was there, and risking it wouldn’t have been worth it.  
Evan, Jay and Tim were chatting away, Tim talking about how they saw the news together, just staying inside for a few days until Tim got too curious about finding out what exactly was happening outside. How he had barely escaped the creature he came across, immediately grabbing Jay and some important stuff and leaving their beloved home behind. How they picked up Michael and lost him again just some time later.  
Jay had went quiet when it came up, nodding along but not adding much to it. Feelings of guilt and nausea came back remembering it, so he just tried to push these memories far back in his mind, looking out the window and taking a deep breath. It had still been “fresh”, and he knew he’d need some time to eventually forget about it.  
While talking Tim gently pulled Jay against his side, stroking his back to comfort him, as he knew he still felt really bad for what happened. Jay appreciated it, just resting his head against Tim’s shoulder and closing his eyes. Now that he was resting like this he could feel just how severe his exhaustion was, his legs numb and a stinging pain in his shoulders, and he hoped that they would arrive soon and get a chance to sleep.

Once they arrived at the house, which was in a pretty separated area and had no direct neighbouring houses, carrying all their stuff inside was done quick, most of it stuffed into three big bags. The house was rather big, having a second floor and big living room, where a bunch of mattresses and sleeping bags were spread out over the ground. Two other guys were each in a different part of the room, now turning towards the door and getting up to greet the newcomers, followed by a little dog that curiously sniffed on Tim.

“Hey there. I’m Alex”  
The taller of the two men smiled, shaking their hands. He was a tad bit taller than Jay but had a much younger face, and if he had to take a guess, Jay would’ve said he wasn’t any older than 20, which was definitely influenced by the band shirt and hat with faux fur he was wearing.  
“I’m Jeff’s brother, even if we don’t look all that similar. And that’s Sparky”  
He chuckled a bit, looking down at the white and brown dog that was happily wagging it’s tail, standing on it’s back legs and putting it’s front paws against Evan’s leg, who knelt down to play with it.  
-“Ay. Been a while"  
Jessie nodded towards Jay and Tim, going in to hug his brother, before giving him a tired grin and running a hand through his messy hair. His eyes were dark brown and looked tired, sunken deep into their sockets. His other hand was wrapped half into bandages, dry blood and deep cuts over it and all along his arm, looking like they were caused by the claws of an animal. Jay wanted to ask about them but decided to do so at a later time.  
He took the turn now, nodding and smiling at both of them.  
“I’m Jay, and this is my fiancé, Tim - which you should already know, Jessie. Thank you for letting us crash at your place”  
-“Any time. You two can have a snack and something to drink and sleep for a while if you’d like”  
Jeff agreed. He had seen how tired especially Jay looked, barely able to even keep his eyes open, pale and drained. From what he had heard during the car ride their past few days had been horrible and both of them really deserved some sleep. Leading them into the kitchen he made them a quick microwave meal, letting them drink as much as they needed.  
“Luckily, our water here doesn’t seem o be contaminated”  
Tim tilted his head, a little confused. He had heard about this before, briefly from Jay, but had never quite understood what it meant.  
-“What exactly does it even mean when the water is contaminated? Is it dangerous?”  
He looked down at his cup, then back at Jeff, hesitating a little to drink.  
“In some areas, there seems to be something in the water that makes people get extremely anxious and causes them to no longer feel safe anywhere. Because of that they then start just running around outside, scared and vulnerable, where they are an easy target for the things that are after or asses at the moment. Nobody really knows why that is, tough, but the most logical explanation is that those creatures have something to do with it. At this house though the water is safe, so you don’t need to worry”  
It still didn’t sound completely trustworthy, but Tim’s body was screaming for water, so he chugged it down, relying on Jeff’s word and hoping he was right.

Just a few minutes later Tim and Jay had lied down on the two mattresses Evan had prepared for them. They had put them right next to each other so it was more like one double mattress, cuddled up under their blankets together. Jay had fallen asleep first, head resting against his partner’s chest, sleeping soundly and breathing slowly. This rest was really long needed, for both of them, and they were relieved they wouldn’t have to worry about any possible danger.  
The four men that had so kindly taken them in were still awake, sitting around a table in the kitchen to let their new group members rest. They always took turns anyways when they needed to sleep, so there would be at least two people staying up and watching over the house. Despite this being a relatively safe area they never let their guard down to be able to react quickly enough if any creature did happen to find them. It was better to be safe than sorry.  
  
Jeff had made “dinner”, which just meant getting a packed sandwich for every one of them, and they planned how to get to the next hideout. It was almost unavoidable to pass through or at least by a hotspot, as they were pretty much surrounded by multiple of them. The fastest possible route towards the city they wanted to head to lead right through one of the more dangerous areas, but driving around it was basically impossible as the amount of fuel they still had was limited.  
Caught up in thinking about their next steps they didn’t hear the doorbell at first, until Alex perked his head up, looking towards the entrance door. He looked at Jeff and didn’t even have to ask for him to know what his question was.  
Jeff shook his head.  
“We actually didn’t expect somebody else”  
They all looked at each other, wordlessly debating about what to do, until Jeff got up and headed towards the door.

He took slow, silent steps, remaining quiet. Just to be sure he had taken a glass bottle with him, in case he would be attacked, opening the door just a light bit at first. A person was standing outside.  
“Who’s there?”  
-“Is this the group hideout? Are you the guy from Twitter?”  
Jeff relaxed a little.  
“Yea, I am”  
-“Can I come in? I have some bad wounds and don’t know where to go”  
“Of course. C’mere, I’ll take a look at them”  
The person sighed in relief when the door fully opened and they were let in, immediately reaching out a hand to Jeff to greet him.  
-“I’m Alex. Sorry for the sudden visit without letting you know. First I didn’t have any signal and then my phone ran out of battery.”  
“Oh, It’s you! What happened? You never replied and told us where to pick you up”  
-“Yea, as I said, no signal. But thank you”  
“Now come on in, to the kitchen. There I can have a better look at you and care for any injuries you have. Glad to see you still kicking”


	4. Periculum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After joining the group, Jeff is caring for Alex's wounds, which turn out to be more serious than he first expected. While busy however, Evan, out on his hourly checkup, discovers something that would force the group to immediately change their plans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters are getting shorter and shorter every time, but i promise, there'll be quiet a big chunk of text very soon <3

Alex was badly injured.  
Half of his face was pretty much covered in blood, some of it already drying out and flaking off. Deep cuts seemed to be the reason behind it, diagonally tearing his face all the way from his temple to his chin and dark red had soaked his shirt and jacket in his shoulder area, one of his legs just as badly torn as his face. Jeff seemed more or less unsurprised by this, but still definitely worried about the other’s safety.  
“Come on in, to the kitchen. I’ll clean those up first and then wrap some bandages around ‘em.”  
Leading him to the rest of the group Alex introduced himself briefly before sitting in silence on the free chair next to Noah. Jeff was fiddling around, looking through the cupboards and shelves, trying to find their bandages and wipes. They had gathered quite a storage of those, as well as pills and utensils to clean wounds, from different places they had already stayed at; some Jeff had taken along from pharmacies they had come by while passing through multiple towns and villages.  
He knew most about how to properly care for wounded people, so he had made it his job to care for injured people, much like Evan had decided it would be his responsibility to make an hourly outside check.  
“Got it. Alright, lemme have a look”  
He turned the small desk lamp a little so it’s light would make it easier for him to see the wounds properly, taking out one of the wet wipes to get first of all rid of the blood on Alex’s face. He was careful not to touch the cuts too much, but besides some small hisses in pain Alex was quiet and didn’t move much. Jeff smiled at him, comfortingly and to cheer him up a little, and even got one back.

Distracting himself from the stinging a little Alex took his chance to get a better look of what he could see of the surroundings and the man who gently cleaned his face. Jeff had some of the most defined though unruly curls he had seen in a while, and considering the situation all of them were in they were natural, which somehow really impressed him. They matched well with his brown eyes, too, and really complimented the roundish features of his face.  
When putting his attention to Jeff's eyes, he noticed that in his right eye, he had more than just one pupil. He had two, each with their own iris, half blended together. For a moment he wanted to ask about it, but didn't dare to do so yet. If it was something he was insecure about he didn't want to trigger any bad emotions. He was also way too fascinated by it to really form any coherent words about it.   
It was beautiful.  
“Does it hurt?”  
-“No, all good”  
“Okay. I’ll wipe the cuts directly now and disinfect them, so it’ll probably hurt now. You ready?”  
-“Yea, I’ll be fine”  
Nodding Jeff reached over, taking one of the wound cleaning wipes and carefully working his way along the biggest cut first. Alex hissed a little but tried to sit still, the pain rushing through his head like a bullet. It was painful, but bearable.  
Evan got up, grabbing for his jacket, Jeff not even looking up and keeping his focus on his current task. He still wasn’t so happy about the checkups - after all it wasn’t the safest thing to go outside, especially alone, even if this was a coldspot – but he had tried to talk Evan out of it before, without success.  
“Stay safe out there. Don’t get yourself killed”  
-“You won’t get rid of me so easily. Cheers”  
Winking Evan turned towards the door, grabbing his small machete from the dresser and going outside.

Once done, Jeff slightly turned Alex’s face left and right a little, getting a proper look at the now clean wounds on his face. They were rather deep, too deep to let them heal just by leaving them as they were.  
“I’ll have to stitch them up. They’re too big. I can’t really anaesthetize the area, I’m missing the right tools for that, but I could cool it first to numb the pain a bit. You think that’ll work?”  
_Great.  
_-“Yea, it’s fine, I’ll be okay”  
Jeff smiled warmly, looking over at his brother, who had already grabbed one of the ice packs from the freezer and a towel to hand him. Wrapping it into the towel to make it a bit less extreme Jeff carefully pressed it against the cuts, holding it there for a while. Alex closed his eyes, gritting his teeth; he didn’t want to show it hurt, and knew it would get even worse, so he tried to mentally prepare himself.  
“Alright, I’ll start now. Let me know when you need a break”  
The pain was even worse than he expected.  
The moment the small needle broke through his skin he gripped onto Jeff’s arm a little, who stopped for a moment and let him get used to it. Jessie had turned his gaze away, not really fond of watching and instead picking back up where they had left off the conversation earlier.  
Slowly Jeff finished stitching up the first cut, carefully cutting the thread and looking at it to check whether he made any mistakes. Alex’s eyes were wet and glassy from the pain that started to fade again, exhaling soundly.  
“Only two more. Can I continue? Do you need something?”  
-“Just get it all done, I’ll be fine”  
He just wanted it to be over quickly and rather now than later.  
“Alright. But let me know at any time if you want me to stop for a moment”

Stitching up the rest of the cuts was done rather quickly, and Jeff tended to the wounds on Alex’s leg once done. They weren’t as deep, so he only wiped the blood and cleaned them up, before getting their new member a glass of water and something to eat. It wasn't anything fancy, just a simple ham sandwich, but all he could offer.  
Alex had never been so thankful before.  
“Here. You can go and sleep in the living room when you’re done, the other two we picked up today are also asleep. We are staying up, so you can get as much rest as you need”  
-“Thank you, really”  
“Not for that. We gladly help. If any of the wounds rip open again just let me know, I’ll fix it for you”  
Nodding Alex chugged down the water, smiling at Jeff a little. He appreciated it, really; a few hours ago he still thought he was going to die, bleed out, maybe be found by another one of the creatures that would finish him off. But now he was just having some dinner, filling his growling stomach, when Evan came back inside.  
Jeff gasped, staring for a moment.  
“Evan? What happened? Are you fine?”  
The short male was breathing heavily, shirt torn up, wiping some blood from his mouth. His ponytail had loosened, so his hair was hanging in his face, sticking to his sweaty forehead. He looked scared.  
-“We need to leave. Now. It’s not safe anymore.”  
“What do you mean? What happened?”  
-“The coldspots are shifting”  
Jeff shook his head, puzzled. He was way too distracted by the scratches and blood on Evan to really listen and comprehend  
“Shifting? Evan, what the hell do you mean?”  
-“We’re now _right in the middle of a fucking hotspot_ is what I mean”


	5. Brotherly Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the hotspots shifting, the group is forced to pack up and move on. But things don't go as they were supposed to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big TW for gore in this one!! Cheers <3

“Hotspot?”  
-“Yes, a _fucking_ hotspot. I don’t know what exactly is happening but it’s goddamn warm outside and there’s a whole bunch of those beasts crawling around. One of these fuckers tried to come for my ass and I barely got away. I’m telling you, we need to leave”  
Jessie got up, joining Jeff’s side, looking over at Evan, tensing at the sight of his scratches and the blood.  
Things like that didn’t happen to Evan. _They never did.  
_“Okay. I’ll go wake up the other two and you guys pack your stuff. Give us like 20 minutes.”  
Before Jeff cold even react he already went into the living room, Evan taking off his Bioshock shirt. The scratches weren’t big or deep but still bled quite a lot. Throwing his shirt away he grimaced, digging through the drawer for a new one.  
“Man, I liked that shirt” _  
_ -“Are you okay? Do you need plasters? Bandages? C’mere, lemme clean those first. I don’t want you to get them infected”  
“Jeff, I’m fine, it’s nothing”  
-“No, you sit down and let me clean those wounds”  
“They’re just scratches”  
-“I don’t care, sit down. It’s only two minutes. _Please_ ”  
They still argued forth a back for a few moments before Evan gave in, sitting down on the next free chair. They would’ve been done quicker the earlier he gave in anyway. It wasn’t that he would’ve minded Jeff caring for him, he just didn’t want him to worry that much. But, as usual, there was no way of convincing him that he was doing alright.  
“This might sting a bit”  
-“I really liked that shirt and those bastards ruined it”  
“You got yourself into this you idiot. Now hold still”

It felt bad to wake the two sleeping men so suddenly, and with such news. They had curled up together, holding each other close, the blanket they had covered themselves with slightly rising and falling with every breath. Both of them looked exhausted; especially the brunette, who was pale and had deep bags under his eyes. The past day seemed to have gotten to him the most and from what Jessie had heard during their short conversation earlier while having dinner he blamed himself for somebody’s death.   
Tim didn't look much better - then again, he had always looked a bit ruffy and messy, so who could know if he was heavily traumatized or just tired, really.  
On the thought of the loss Jay had to suffer through, Jessie got a little distracted thinking about his own past. It hadn't been more than 3 years ago that he and Tim had separated on rather bad terms after the death of their mother shook them up. He still sometimes fought with having to be a grown up so quickly, and the pain of knowing he had been unable to help her. But, it had gotten less with time. Sometimes he still had dreams about it, remembering what happened; but now, these thoughts had no place here.  
Jessie shook his head, pushing those memories back into the box he had mentally built around them over months, shoving them into the far back of his mind and bending over to touch Jay by his shoulder and shake him slightly.  
“Hey, hey, you gotta wake up.”  
It took a few moments for Jay to start waking up, blinking. His view was blurry, only slowly becoming clear from the mess of colours and mushed shapes he saw when first opening his eyes halfway. A heavy weight was pulling him down, keeping him resting against the hard mattress, making his entire body feel groggy and nauseous. They had barely been sleeping for more than an hour and a half.  
“Really, you gotta get up. We have to leave. Something’s out there and it’s not safe to stay”  
-“Mh...”  
Jay was too tired to give in to the panic piling up on him. It wasn’t that Jessie’s words didn’t startle him – they did. His chest felt tight, laying heavy on his lungs, blocking him from properly breathing. But at the same time, the sleepiness and exhaustion was too strong to let fear pass, keeping him from freaking out. Instead, he just nodded, sitting up slowly.  
Jessie tried to give him a reassuring smile that was more of a grimace, a small flick of the corners of his mouth, but not quite conveying a convincing emotion.

Tim yawned, groaning when something touched his arm, a hand running through his hair. He immediately felt that he definitely didn’t get enough sleep.  
“Mhh.. five more minutes”  
-“Timmy, wake up. It’s important”  
“I’m tired...”  
-“Tim, please”  
The flood gates for panic finally started to open, a giant wave of fear rushing in and filling Jay’s mind by now. The longer he was awake the more aware he got, recalling what Tim's brother told him, what that meant, what situation they were in. He was scared.  
With shaking hands he shook Tim again, a bit more than before, stroking his hair and leaning down to kiss his forehead. _He needed him to get up.  
_“Tim, we’re leaving. Get up. We need to get dressed and pack our things”  
A scratching in his throat made the brunette choke, coughing and vibrating. It felt like something pulled on his guts from the inside, compressing his heart and pulling on his stomach.  
“How late is it?”  
-“Tim, please just get up.”  
Jay was getting frustrated, shaking him a little more. He watched Tim opening his eyes, bit by bit, wide awake as soon as he saw Jay’s worried gaze. He sat up, a bit too fast and needing a moment until the nausea faded.  
“What’s wrong?”  
-“The hotspots are shifting It’s no longer safe here. We have to leave”  
“Shifting?”  
Jessie chimed in, tapping his feet, looking down at the two men.  
“Just pack your stuff and get dressed. Grab as much food as you can.”  
Without giving them time to answer he went back to the kitchen to join the others, Jay hurrying to grab his jeans and get to packing up.

Jeff was breathing fast, checking in on Alex who had newly joined their group.  
“You think you can walk?”  
-“I’ll be good”  
“I’ll take my to-go-pharmacy with me. Maybe it’s a good idea if you take a painkiller, just to be sure and prepare”  
The taller man with the glasses nodded, thankfully accepting the pill with a glass of water, chugging it down quickly. Jeff gave him a sympathetic smile, starting to stuff his pills, needles and threads back into the bag they were in before.  
“Jeff? What about Sparky?”  
-“She’s coming with us of course. I’ll get the dog food”  
“Okay. Okay”  
The small dog, upon hearing her name, barked, heckling and running up to the tall man with the fluffy hat. Alex picked her up, cuddling her tight.  
Evan, now with a new shirt, silently murmured swears while digging through the drawers, looking for something.  
“Alex, where did you put the knife I gave you the other day?”  
Without even looking up Jeff answered for him, closing the bag he had just put most of his stuff into, putting it down next to the backpack Jessie had already filled with food.  
“I hid it because I don’t want my little baby brother to have a weapon”  
-“I’m almost 20”  
“Doesn’t matter”  
Groaning Evan shut the drawer again, crossing his arms and staring at Jeff, who just shrugged. For a moment they just looked at each other, bright blue eyes meeting warm, chocolaty brown ones. It was like Evan was drastically searching them for something, a hint of a location, maybe a feeling, something other than neutral comfort.  
“Where is it?”  
-“I don’t know. Don’t remember where I put it”  
“Jeff, I need my knife”  
-“You have so many other ones”  
“I got this one from Vinnie for Christmas. I need the fucking knife”  
-“Fine, I’ll go get it”  
“And hurry, I really wanna leave this shithole”

Soon after Tim and Jay entered into the kitchen, both looking extremely exhausted. Their hair was messy, Jay even paler than before, eyes glassy and tired. Tim had lazily buttoned up his flannel, half undone, not really caring about fixing it and just tucking it into his jeans.  
Yawning Jay nodded at everybody around the room.  
“We’re up”  
-“You look horrible. You can sleep in the car”  
“Thanks”  
Jeff felt bad about them having to get up again after barely any rest, but they had no choice.  
“Okay. Everybody got what they need?”  
Jessie quickly finished to wrap another layer of bandages around his crooked hand, sighing when he put his sleeves back down, nodding into Jeff’s direction. Both Alex’s and Evan got their bags, putting them over their shoulders, heading towards the door.  
“Okay. Okay. How do we separate? We have 2 cars”  
-“I’ll get Jessie and Alex. You should go with the new Alex, Tim and Jay”  
Evan was already half out into the hallway, just deciding for them to speed this up.  
“I will go first.”  
-“Evan!”  
He stopped when Jeff called after him, the two men he had decided to take into his car joining his side. The brunette’s eyes had a spark of worry, looking almost pleading.  
“Please be careful. Don’t get yourself killed”  
-“Won’t. You’re not getting rid of me so easily. I’ll text you once we’re in the car and you can come out”  
With a rather cheerful smile he opened the door, checking the surroundings before leaving, the other two after him. Sparky waned to follow at first, but Alex didn’t let her follow, wanting to make sure that, if anything was outside, she would be safe and sound. She whined in disappointment but retreated back inside, where she laid on her bed.

Jay, to cover the time of them waiting, sat down next to the small dog on the ground, gently petting her. She wagged her tail, putting her snout down onto her paws, enjoying the affection. Jeff kept checking his phone every few seconds, waiting, hoping for a sign to come soon.  
Alex had been walking up and down in the living room, trying to get his leg used to the motion after resting it for so long. It still hurt but less than it did a few hours ago.  
“Do you know where we are heading?”  
To distract Jeff a little and break the silence Tim picked up a small conversation, also to get an idea of what the plan was. Jeff checked his phone once more, trying to seem calmer than he was in front of the shorter man.  
“Oh, there’s a smaller city south from here that should now be a safe place. It has lots of old, abandoned factories and stuff like that. We should find a spot to stay at there”  
-“I see.”  
They nodded at each other, shifting their weight from one foot onto the other kind of awkwardly. After a few moments however Jeff broke the silence once again.  
“So... Is there anybody we could still pick up for you? A friend of yours, maybe?”  
Tim shrugged, looking down. He thought about telling him about Brian for a moment but decided that, especially now, it wasn’t the right time to do so. He do spaced out for a few seconds though, remembering his old college friend in the wheelchair.  
He had no chance against the creatures. He just was too slow, trapped in the very thing that had been supposed to make him more flexible.  
-“No, nobody left, other than Jessie.”  
“I’m sorry, shouldn't have brought it up.”  
-“It’s fine. Not like any of us could’ve done anything about it. Thank you for taking care of Jessie though: i know he can be a true mouthful sometimes.”  
Comfortingly Jeff placed his hand on Tim’s shoulder for a moment, before his attention was caught by Sparky, who began barking and ran towards the door. She jumped up and down, alarmed. It was quiet outside, but she must’ve heard something, and it worried Jeff a lot.  
“Evan didn’t text me yet”  
-“I’ll check”  
Tim went to grab his jacket, Jay holding his wrist however, stopping him in his motion.  
“It might be dangerous”  
-“I’ll be okay. You think those things can just simply drag me away?”  
Jay knew he tried to cheer him up, but still hesitated. He didn’t really want to let him go, but also didn’t want to start an argument. He was too exhausted and tired to really argue and complain anyways.  
Jeff would’ve stopped Tim, but somebody _had_ to check; and if he was honest, he was glad it wasn’t his own task right now. He was too scared and knew he wouldn’t really be able to defend himself as he was physically rather weak. Before he could really think about the situation Tim was already out the door.

At first, he couldn’t see anything; his eyes needed a moment to adapt to the darkness. But he could _hear_. A groaning, growling, familiar clicking.  
His eyes flicked left and right, checking his surroundings. The cars were parked by the road, down the small path that led from the house right to the sidewalk. Several figures were moving around by the cars. The sounds obviously came from there and Tim’s mind was screaming at him to go back inside, hide, get to safety.  
He couldn’t, though. If anything, he had to go and help them, especially once spotting the low red lights.  
It was the least he could do to thank the group for picking them up.  
Quickly but quietly he hurried down the path, stopping when he almost tripped over a soft object, but only for a moment. He didn’t have the time to wait any longer. Tim didn’t even have a plan or weapon and, with the lack of any sort of blade, just curled his hands into fists. They were all he had and had to be enough for now. Adrenaline started pumping from his pounding heart into the rest of his body, into his legs and fingertips, blocking his mind from any sort of distracting thoughts.

It had gone so well.  
Jessie felt dizzy. He had been thrown against the side of the car and hit his head on the doorframe, his vision blurry for a couple of seconds. It was long enough to give the creature time to tear on his arm, the pain pushing Noah back into reality. He swung round, helplessly kicking not sure what exactly he hit but hoping it was at least doing something. Time moved differently now, way too fast and agonizingly slow at the same time, making him unable to take in all that happened but also hyper-aware of the events around him.  
Evan must’ve gotten the other one because it’s screeching turned into nothing but a low gagging. Jessie was barely given time to register, again distracted by a claw at his waist, cursing and waving his arms, pushing, to somehow get them off, feeling his flesh tear slightly. His eyes couldn’t take in all the visuals, sight still blurry, everything a mess of red and black.  
Something moves and the claws in his side disappear.  
He sees a person, too tall to be Evan. They speak.  
“Are you hurt?”  
It’s Tim.

  
Before Jessie can answer he is interrupted by Evan who is sobbing, whining. It’s only a wail at first, murmuring gibberish, but gets clearer.  
“No.. nononononono... nooooo... god, fuck, no..”  
He was crouched on the ground, holding a limp body, shaking and crying.  
“Alex... Alex, c’mon buddy...”  
Tim was frozen in place, counting two and two together slowly.  
Alex wasn’t wearing his hat.  
It must’ve been the thing he stepped on on his way here.  
Both men just watched Evan grief soundly, panicking. This wasn’t supposed to happen. This shouldn’t have happened. He should’ve left him with his brother.  
He almost looked like asleep, if it hadn’t been for the wound on the back of his head. Alex had gone down hard after being tackled by one of the creatures that attacked them.  
There had been nothing to hold onto, the force pushing him down, where he cracked his skull on the edge of the sidewalk.  
_“Hey.. Alex.. please, c’mon, just say something... what about Jeff... c’mon, please....”_


	6. One step forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evan has never been good at keeping secrets. Although this time he wishes he was.

They couldn’t move, couldn’t react. Just stared.  
Thoughts rushed through Tim’s mind, tripping over each other, bouncing around his skull and making him feel disoriented. He had no way to be prepared for this sort of situation. Jessie was just as frozen in place, trying to get himself to move, say something, but shock sticked him to the car door.  
It was dead quiet, except for the silent sobbing Evan pressed out of his dry throat.  
Tim didn’t trust this. If the creatures had any form of intelligence they would know how to use this situation and he didn’t want to risk any further injuries.  
As quickly as possible he pushed himself forwards t kneel down next to Evan. They had to react, now.  
“We have to get in the car”  
-“But-“  
“Evan, we’ll have to leave him here. We can’t stay outside any longer, it’s too dangerous”  
-“We can’t leave him here!”  
“Do you want Jeff to see him like this?”  
Silence.  
“Let’s go. You got the keys? I can drive”

The more time passed the more uncomfortable Jeff got. He walked up and down, checking his phone, looking out the windows, but couldn’t see anything. The silence was even worse than any sounds he could’ve imagined to hear.  
“Guys, I don’t wanna stay any longer”  
-“Evan said to wait. We should listen”  
Jay was still on the floor, holding Sparky in his lap, calming himself with her presence. She wagged her tail, licking his hands.  
“It’s taking too long”  
-“He probably has a plan. We shouldn’t disturb it”  
Sighing Jeff sat down again, taking a deep breath. Maybe Jay was right. He do had a point, even if he didn't like it.  
“Okay, okay. We’ll wait”  
Alex, who had been checking his bag to make sure everything was in there that he needed, looked up at Jeff, trying to think of how to calm him a little. The slim man was shaking, checking his surroundings and phone excessively, worried.  
“Thank you again. For, you know, helping me out”  
He figured a bit of a conversation would work to cut through the uncomfortable silence.  
-“Oh, uh. No problem.”  
“So, are you like, trained in this?”  
-“Well, sort of. I wanted to be a paramedic”  
Nodding Alex shifted a little, grabbing a chair to sit next to the brunette; also to rest his leg some more, which had once more started aching.  
“That’s nice. It fits you”  
-“Does it?”  
“You just look like somebody people would trust with their life I g-“  
A bing interrupted him mid-sentence, Jeff looking down to check his phone, getting up immediately.  
-“We can go outside.”

Tim was sitting on the driver’s seat, keeping an eye on the house. Jessie looked out the windows, making sure he would alarm them if any more creatures turned up; but luckily, for now, it seemed safe. The injury on his side barely hurt anymore and he was relieved that it wasn’t much more than a big scratch. It bled a lot but wasn’t deep, just leaving a small red stain on his grey sweater. He was relieved Tim hadn't really carried any injuries other than some bruises.  
Tiredness was creeping deep into Evan’s bones. He had sat on the front passenger seat, staring out the window at the bushes on the other side of the road where they hid Alex. He didn’t like hiding it like this but neither did he want Jeff to face him like this. He would tell him, very soon, he would; he just didn’t know how.  
Jeff never seemed like it, but he was so sensitive in certain topics, so vulnerable. And they were his friends, his family, and _liars_.  
He hated it when people lied to him.  
And now Evan was doing the very thing he despised. Lying. Making Jeff believe that Alex was fine, was with them.  
He would have to tell him, but couldn’t just yet. Tim tried to calm him by telling him it was the best solution to wait until they were in a safe place and he had a point. God knows what Jeff would do if he knew his brother was left to rot hidden behind some bushes just a few feet away from him. He didn’t need to now just yet. Evan wanted him safe before he would tell him, would admit. That he was unable to protect him. That it had been an unexpected attack.  
Just a bad, bad accident.  
This wasn’t supposed to happen.  
It wasn’t his fault, but he felt so guilty. He should've watched over him more, taken better care, protected him better.

It was so dark outside that Jeff almost tripped over the stairs when he left the house.  
He stopped for a moment, listening, but the message had said it’s safe and he trusted it. Jay and Alex followed right after him, each holding their bags to their chests, carefully taking their steps. Jay was in the back, to let Alex walk in the middle. He was still hurt and if anything _did_ happen he would’ve been a little more protected.  
The three of them sneaked towards the second car, putting their stuff into the back and quickly hopping in. Jay was in the back, Alex pulling his leg into the car, sighing in relief when he heard the click of the automatic lock system locking the doors.  
Jay didn’t bother to put on his seatbelt, more or less collapsing and lying down. It wasn’t ideal, but it would be enough.  
The car before them started.  
“Sleep some, Jay. I’ll wake you when we’re there”  
The pale man just murmured as an answer, eyes already falling shut, the slight rocking of the driving car quickly making him fall asleep.  
“It’s gonna be a long ride. You can sleep too if you’d like”  
The only answer Alex gave him was a shrug, looking over at him, then out the window.  
-“Maybe. Hey, does the radio work?”  
“Not sure. We could try”  
Alex reached over, turning on the radio. Static.  
-“Hm”  
He tuned it a little, but still didn’t hear anything but white noise, shutting it off again. It was frustrating. The only thing they still had to communicate with others were their phones, and he wasn’t so sure how long electricity would still work for them. He wasn’t even sure how their general future was supposed to look like; without a sun, they couldn’t even grow anything.  
“Hey Jeff?”  
-“Yea?”  
“Evan mentioned somebody named Vinnie. Mind if I ask who that is?”  
Despite keeping them on the road, Alex could see the shift in emotion in Jeff’s eyes.  
-“He was a good friend of ours.”  
“Oh I.... I’m sorry for asking”  
-“It’s fine”  
Silence, again. Alex didn’t dare to ask any further questions, Jeff had nothing to say, and Jay was fast asleep.

Tim tried to keep his focus on the road in front of him, but it was getting hard. The lack of sleep made his arms and legs feel heavy, limp and weak. He barely could hold his head up, things blurring on the edges of his field of vision.  
He desperately needed to rest.  
“How far is it? I’m tired. Not sure if I can still drive much longer”  
Evan, who had slowly started to calm down and accept the situation, turned his head, looking over at the exhausted looking man behind the steering wheel.  
-“I could drive if ya need a break”  
“Depends. How far do we still have to go?”  
Taking out his phone Evan quickly checked google maps, exhaling soundly. It took him a moment as his fingers were shaky, causing him issues with aiming them.  
-“Like 7 minutes. Just straight ahead”  
“Yea, I’ll be good”  
Jessie had been quiet during the drive so far, fiddling on the bandages on his arm. It still itched and burned, but he swallowed down the urge to scratch or pick on it. There was barely anything to see outside other than the road and some trees and he had begun to space out, thinking about old friends.  
He wondered where they were.  
Drifting off in thought the 7 minutes passed much faster than expected, and he soon felt something touch his shoulder. It was Evan,slightly shaking him.  
“...there. C’mon, let’s get our asses inside”  
Tim was running a hand over his face, yawning. The cold air blowing around him managed to give him a bit of a push, a small rush of energy, but he knew it would fade soon. He just wanted to finally lay down and sleep for 10 hours all at once, holding Jay safe by his side.

Jeff, Alex and Jay arrived just 2 minutes later, Sparky being the first to jump out of the car once they stopped and opened the doors. Jay quickly made his way over to his fiancé, cupping his face and looking at him from all sides, checking for any injuries. It made Jessie smile a little, watching them and again leaning his back against the car. Jeff still took a moment to help Alex out, Evan feeling his breath speed up when he saw the curly haired man coming towards them.  
“Good to see you still kicking”  
-“As usual”  
“How about the others? Anybody hurt?”  
Tim looked up, locking eyes with the shorter male who visibly tensed. He rubbed his temples, avoiding looking up into Jeff’s eyes. The longer he didn’t answer the more suspicious Jeff got.  
 _Something wasn’t right._  
“Evan”  
Confused he looked at the people around him, counting them, once, twice, three times.  
“Evan, where’s Alex?”


	7. Two steps back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After confessing to what happened Evan is met with raw, unfiltered emotion Jeff is letting out, trying to process the loss he had just been informed about.

The answer was a short 4 word sentence and felt like somebody had just punched Jeff in the guts.  
It pressed all the air out of his lungs at once, ringing loudly in his ears. He couldn’t comprehend. Couldn't think straight.  
His chest hurt.  
-“He... what”  
Evan parted his lips to speak but Jeff couldn’t hear him, all sounds shutting off except for the slight wind blowing through his hair.  
At first he couldn’t even cry. He just, stared, shaking his head.  
Jessie kept his distance, staying on the other side of the car still. He wasn’t so fond of being in the middle or even involved in any argument, and it was going to happen, he knew. Alex did just the same, leaning against the car to rest his leg a little.  
Silence was laying heavy on all of them for a long moment in which Jeff just kept staring, gaze empty and unreadable.  
He was beginning to process.

“You’re kidding.”  
It took a while until Jeff could say something.  
“You’re kidding me.”  
Evan tensed even more, running a hand over his face and rubbing his eyes. He wanted to answer, wanted to somehow calm him, comfort him, but there was nothing he could’ve said.  
“You’re kidding. He... he isn’t. He _can’t_. He _isn’t_ ”  
Walking up and down he began tearing up but not crying just yet. Tim held Jay close, stroking his back, keeping him slightly pressed to his chest.  
Jeff was shaking, badly, very visibly.  
“You can’t tell me that Alex, _my Alex_ , my _little brother_ , just died. He didn’t. This is all some sick joke.”  
-“Jeff I... wish it was.”  
“No! No. You’re kidding. You’re lying. Tell me you’re lying, Evan. Tell me he’s just somewhere around here hiding and acting along with a joke.”  
Evan knew it was his responsibility to do something about it, but he was torn between trying to ease Jeff’s pain a little, attempting to calm him, or giving him the freedom to let it all out. Either way he would somehow have to help and support him now, but he felt frozen in place, unable to answer or think of anything to say.  
“Evan, _please_ , tell me this isn’t true”  
-“I’m so sorry. I should’ve been more careful”

Finally the tears started running, down over Jeff’s cheeks, dripping off his chin. More and more followed, his eyes burning, itching and looking glassy.  
“Alex died”  
He murmured it more or less to himself, running a hand through his hair, wanting to turn around but stopping halfway, indecisive.  
“He won’t come back”  
It wasn’t that he talking to anybody in particular other than himself, aiming the words towards his crowded, overwhelmed mind, trying to explain, to make it _understand_ what had happened. Sadness, shock and disbelief tainted his every thought, throwing them left and right and never giving them a rest, making it impossible to sort them.  
Anger began to kick in. He wasn’t sure who he was angry at; Evan? Tim? Himself?  
It didn’t matter. He was mad, disappointed, and wanted to scream until his throat would bleed.  
“You fucking left him. You left him there to rot way and didn’t even care to tell me before we came here! You didn’t protect him! You FAILED to protect him! You’re the worst, you’re the fucking worst, I hate you, ALL OF YOU”  
Jeff’s voice was scratchy and Jay slightly covered his ears, sensitive to the loud noises. It was Jeff’s right to be mad and he would never had said anything else, but still, the intensity was draining and uncomfortable. Tim tightened his grip around his partner a little more, avoiding to look into the crying man’s direction, but was soon targeted himself.  
“You should’ve done something. You went out to help and didn’t do shit!”  
Tim didn’t even try to defend himself. It would’ve only started an argument. He eyed Jessie, who looked away.  
“You’re all assholes!”  
Stumbling a few steps backwards Jeff gripped his hair, shaking his head, sobbing.  
“You decided to tell me NOW, and not when it ACTUALLY happened, making me believe everything was fine when it’s not. You’re _horrible_!”  
Evan took a step towards him but Jeff stumbled even further away at that, shaking his head more, mouthing little ' _no_ 's at him he couldn't push past the blocking feeling in his throat. He looked left and right, starting sentences he didn’t finish. The shorter man attempted to calmingly talk to him, grabbing for his sleeve, but it made the other only hysterical.  
“NO. Get off! Get off me. Leave me alone!”  
He kept swearing, crying, letting out all his anger and pain until his mouth felt dry. Evan didn’t stop him, swallowing all the insults and fault accusations, taking all the blame onto himself. He felt guilty anyways; it was Jeff’s _right_ to be mad at him because he, in fact, failed.  
Jessie shifted uncomfortably. He didn’t want to chime into the situation but started to freeze, wrapping his arms around himself.  
-“Jeff, I’m sorry, I tried my best but-“  
“That’s not the fucking issue, Evan! The biggest problem here is that you didn’t tell me. That you deliberately _LIED_ to my face and made me believe Alex was doing fine.”  
-“Tim said we should w-“  
“I don’t fucking care what he said! You know me for so long now, you should’ve known! You should’ve fucking known. I’m going inside. Fuck off”

Stomping to the back of the car Jeff grabbed his bag, calling for Sparky and making his way along the sidewalk towards the house that used to belong to Vinnie’s parents.  
The others were left behind, still needing a moment to take in what just happened. Alex and Jessie followed just a few moments later.  
And then it hit Jay.  
“Tim, was this your idea?”  
-“What? What do you mean?”  
“You know what I mean.”  
-“I don’t”  
“Timothy. Was it _your_ fucking idea to keep this a secret until we arrive here?”  
Tim let Jay go, taking a bit of a step back, raising his hands a little in a defending manner.  
-“Woah woah woah, you can’t blame me! I thought it would’ve been the smartest thing to do to make sure Jeff would even get into his car and leave instead of stay around longer and get himself and you in danger”  
Jay froze before shaking his head, crossing his arms, laughing humourlessly.  
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me right now”  
-“Jay, can we just get our stuff inside? I don’t wanna talk about this in front of everybody else”  
“No! I’m not letting you escape this now. You’re staying here and talking about it with me like a goddamn adult”  
-“I really don’t feel like arguing in front of others”  
The brunettes gaze was intense, eyes flickering with anger, watching Tim get his baggage as well. Noah and Alex had followed after Jeff pretty quickly once they had grabbed their things, Evan still trying to process and walking up and down around the car.  
Tim wanted to push past Jay to head towards the house but Jay grabbed for his sleeve, stopping him.  
“I said we’re talking this out right now. I just want an explanation.”  
-“And I don’t feel like arguing with you now. You’re tired and should get some sleep, maybe then you’ll calm down and stop being hysteric”  
Loosening his grip Jay frowned, slightly shaking his head again.  
“Jeff was right. You _are_ a fucking asshole”


	8. Outside Inside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shock is still sitting deep in Jeff's bones; but he's not the only one troubled by the situation.

Jeff was sorting the stuff from his bags into the shelves, still shaking. At this point he just tried to distract himself, do anything that would get his mind off the argument from earlier, Alex helping him out. They didn’t talk but they didn’t need to, just making sure their food, bandages, the dog food and other things would be sorted.  
Sparky was sniffing around the house, curling up on the fluffy carpet in the living room and watching the others do. She slowly wagged her tail, curling up, preparing for a nap.  
Jessie had started to unpack the thin camping mattresses he had rolled up to pack them into his bag, placing them around the living room. He put two of them next to each other, for Jay and Tim, getting the second bag to place down blankets on each makeshift bed. He didn’t know how long they were expecting to stay here, but from what Jeff implied in their conversations about 2 days before they picked up the two soon-to-be-husbands they were going to gain new members for their little survivor group very soon and continue on as a larger group later.  
The door opened soon after again, but Jeff didn’t look up. Evan didn’t try to talk to him either, just putting his bag down in the kitchen and going upstairs. Alex looked after him for a moment but decided to stay with Jeff instead, helping him sort in the things from the bag the short man had just put down.  
  
It didn’t even need a lot of words.  
The presence of the brunette with the glasses was enough to make Jeff feel a little less alone, without feeling pressuring or cornering. He was just helping him out and giving him a little company, didn’t push any further, sitting next to him when Jeff took a seat on top of the kitchen table. Their shoulders touched, both silently eating something, avoiding eye contact.  
The silence was comforting, no sound to be heard in the house anymore besides the slight rustling of blankets in the living room. The nausea that had overcome Jeff earlier started to fade, making place for exhaustion and sleepiness.  
He really could use some rest now, a few hours of sleep, some time to sort his thoughts and have a relieving cry just by himself.  
Once he had finished his sandwich Jeff got up to throw it away, hesitating a moment to pull away from the comforting, subtle body contact.  
“Thank you. I’ll go and sleep for a while”  
Alex nodded at him, trying to give him a sympathetic gaze, a small side smile.  
-“You deserve some rest. I’ll help the others put away the rest”  
“Thank you, Alex”  
His voice was still scratchy, drained and thin, eyes red and puffed from crying.  
Silently he headed towards the living room, choosing the mattress in the very far back to be his bed; Sparky following after him, curling up besides him. He held her close, burying his face in her fur.  
Jessie had left when Jeff had come in, leaving him to rest by himself. He knew he needed some alone time now.

Tim and Jay were still outside, still arguing. The shorter man had eventually dropped his bag, arms now crossed.  
“Do we need to argue now?”  
-“We’re not arguing, we’re discussing”  
“All _you’re_ doing is accusing me of things I never did and blaming me”  
Jay huffed, rolling his eyes. This anger had been growing for a while now, walking up and down inside the small cage Jay had built around it in his head, and today had broken the lock and allowed it to roam his head freely, throwing over emotions and thoughts he had so carefully piled up over time.  
Old hurt came back up, mixing with faded disappointments that manifested again once triggered.  
-“We can’t keep avoiding this”  
“We have more important problems right now”  
Now it was Tim who rolled his eyes, huffing. He knew this was just as important and he did care about the problem they had in their relationship but he wasn’t in the mood to defend himself right now, especially not about events from years ago when there was something life-threatening going on. All he wanted was for Jay to finally listen.  
-“More important problems, I see. Let’s see what other _‘unimportant’_ problems we have, then”  
Tim’s gaze was almost begging for Jay to not start this now but before he could protest Jay already began counting them on his fingers.  
“Let’s see. You left me alone at home to meet friends when I was really sick and asked you if you could stay to take care of me. You called me an annoying bastard once because you ‘had a bad day at work’. You sticked your dick into somebody else – no, my bad, not just _somebody_ , your _best friend_ \- and tried to tell me I’m paranoid and tried to cover it up for 2 whole weeks straight, even though I had already found out-“  
-“Jay, let’s go inside”  
“No! I told you I’m not gonna discuss this in front of others. This is between you and me”  
-“I’m not gonna argue about this with you now”  
“Timothy, we have to talk this out”  
-“But not now. Get your stuff and let’s go inside, it’s cold”  
He was too tired to talk about this. Tim could barely see straight, his sight starting to blur again and head pounding. It felt like somebody had stuck it into a vice and was pulling it tighter with every word Jay spoke. Adding to this was the freezing cold wind making him shudder.  
All he craved right now was sleep.  
“Tim, you can’t keep avoiding this”  
Tim ran a hand over his face, letting out a stretched sigh.  
-“Look. We can talk about this later, I promise, but I’m tired and have a splitting headache. I just want to sleep for a few hours and then we can gladly talk this out, okay? I had less than 2 hours of sleep in the last two days and I’m gonna pass out if I stay up any longer. My head hurts, my legs hurt, and I just want to know you safe and sound inside the house because, frankly, believe me or not, I don’t want you to get killed out here.”  
Without another word or any further hesitation he picked his bag up again, taking it over his shoulder and making his way inside. Jay simply followed, keeping his head down and not saying anything else about it; he was tired himself and Tim did have a point. He hoped that after some sleep they would feel a bit better and could talk this out without arguing.

Evan was still upstairs, sitting in the bathroom. He had locked the door, sitting on the edge of the bathtub, rubbing his temples.  
Jeff’s words still sat deep in his bones, hollowing inside his skull, echoing and multiplying. With a pain-soaked hiss he pulled his hair a little, trying to cover the headache with another form of hurt, slightly rocking back and forth.  
The image of Alex falling flashed before his eyes, followed by blurry bits left of what he remembered of the fight. It had ended as quick as it begun, the attack catching them by surprise. He recalls the red lights, switching from white to red; the clicking sound, claws, growls.  
Tears had made his cheeks wet, eyes itching and burning. It wasn’t fair.  
He felt so responsible, even though it wasn’t really his fault. It wasn’t his doing and all just an accident he had no control over.  
Still, it felt like he himself had caused Alex to fall; like he had pushed him himself, had caused him to trip and hit his head on the sidewalk with his own two hands.  
He shouldn’t have listened to Tim. He should’ve went back inside to tell Jeff instead of hiding his brother’s body and lying about him being with them.  
He should’ve just told him, but didn’t have the heart to. He didn’t want to face Jeff and watch his warm eyes turn cold and glassy from the horrible news. Didn’t want to be the one to bring the news that would break his heart and admit he had failed to protect him.  
Evan cursed himself soundly, holding in a sob.  
He should’ve left Alex with him.


	9. In delay there lies no plenty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As resting time finally comes near, everybody still tries to sort their thoughts.

Jeff had a hard time falling asleep, Sparky cuddled up against him still. She was breathing slowly, one paw stretched out and resting against Jeff’s shoulder. The curly haired male silently sighed, keeping his eyes closed and hoping exhaustion would get the best of him very soon.  
He had so many thoughts bouncing around his mind, so many confusing and overwhelming emotions all at once. He was sad, angry, felt lied to and weak. Still, a big part of him couldn’t even believe that any of this happened, denial washing over his shore and carrying away all other feelings.  
It just couldn’t be true.  
He knew it was but didn’t want to accept the fact that his younger brother wouldn’t just come back any moment. Didn’t want to accept that they had failed to protect him.  
With a silent sigh he curled up some more, pulling the blanket closer. It was cold, especially since their mattresses were on the floor. Something about it was calming though.  
Forming full thoughts got progressively harder the longer he stayed like this, eyes closed, feeling heavy from crying. He had cried for so long now that he couldn’t anymore, eyes and throat dry, limbs feeling like mush. Sleepiness sat deep in his bones, holding him down, steadily pulling him into a deep slumber which he gladly welcomed.

The next person that went to bed was Jessie.  
He had put his bag that mostly contained clothes into the nearest drawer, sneaking into the living room silently to not wake Jeff up. He chose the mattress that was in the far right corner, half hidden behind a sideboard. Slipping under the blanket he exhaled in relief, letting his eyes fall shut. The pain in his arm and side from the attack had gotten better and was barely noticeable anymore, nothing more than some scratches that had bled a little. He had made sure to wash them before wrapping them in bandages, changing his slightly stained shirt to a fresh one.  
Rolling to the side, facing the wall and his back towards the door, he took out his phone, checking the time.  
12:42 am.  
With a yawn Jessie unlocked the phone, opening twitter. Carefully he read through the last tweets, all of them survivors telling their stories and what next steps they were about to take. Many were talking about the shifting hotspots, worrying about not being fast enough in reaching the next safe area.  
It seemed like _all_ of them had shifted, not just a few which was causing another mass panic between people.  
He was ripped out of his thoughts when the message popped up telling him that his phone had 15% left. He was too tired to get his charger now though, just stuffing his phone under his pillow.  
A few questions still roamed his mind, keeping him awake for a while longer.  
How long would it still be dark?  
Would the sun even ever rise again?  
Would he and Tim be able to go back to treating each other like brothers rather than like strangers? It felt all unreal.  
Running a hand through his hair he yawned once more. All of this was just tiring and he hoped it would be over very soon. Too many people had died already.  
Jessie had his own first-hand experience with loss, even if not caused by the same circumstances, and he didn’t blame Jeff for anything at all. His reaction had been perfectly understandable. It was even more ‘tame’ than he would’ve expected.  
It wasn’t Evan’s fault that Alex had died but he definitely had the chance to tell Jeff much sooner. Jessie didn’t want to push blame but he wasn’t so fond of Evan’s decision either. He could understand why he waited, but on the other had it hadn’t been fair to pretend that Alex was with them and all fine. Then again, he himself knew and hadn't said a thing - so maybe it wasn't his right to debate who was at fault here or not.  
The longer he thought about this the more his head hurt. Sighing again he turned onto his side, pulling the blanket closer around himself and relaxing his body. A lot of things had happened today but for now, he needed some rest. The worry could wait until later.

Alex didn’t feel tired yet. He finished sorting the rest of the things into the shelves, checking if the fridge worked and whether water was running. He really hoped that it wasn’t contaminated here, which would’ve led to a lot of complications.  
They still had a lot of canned food, roughly enough for at least 1 more week, if their group sticked with this amount of members. However, Alex remembered Jeff mentioning somebody who had planned to join them as well. They would need to go for new food and other things for their stock very soon. Maybe he could offer to go look for some, he thought.  
While unpacking a sandwich to have some more dinner the door opened and Alex looked up, over at the two men coming in. Tim was the first entering the house, heading towards the kitchen. Jay looked upset, putting his bag down and leaving towards the living room, wordless.  
“Hey. You good?”  
The shorter man only huffed, shrugging.  
-“Guess so. Not dead”  
“Get some sleep. You need it”  
-“Will do. You too”  
“Should I unpack your bags?”  
-“If you want to. Thank you. Goodnight”  
“Night”  
With a silent nod Tim, too, turned to go to bed, Alex staying behind and getting the bags they brought to put their things with the rest.

By the time Tim and Jay went to bed, both Jeff and Jessie were already asleep. Jay had thought about shoving his mattress somewhere else but was too stubborn to do so, just lying down and turning his back towards Tim. The black-haired man just huffed at that, getting out of his shirt and shoes. Jay had carefully folded his jeans, putting it down next to the mattress together with his sneakers, trying to quickly fall asleep but being too mad to find any rest.  
A sudden coughing fit broke down on Tim and he tightly pressed his hand onto his mouth to keep a quiet as possible. With his other, shaking hand he fished for his pills in his pocket, taking 2 of them at once. He had no water and just dried swallowed them, used to the bitter taste of doing it like this.  
Jay turned a little bit, looking up at his fiancé.  
“I told you to stop taking them dry”  
-“I have no water here”  
“Then get some”  
They whispered but Jay’s voice was still audibly anger-tainted. Tim rolled his eyes.  
-“I will next time”  
Eventually Tim laid down, turning to face Jay, wrapping an arm around him from behind. The brunette jolted a little, putting the arm off him, nuzzling deeper into the blanket.  
“What. Still mad?”  
No answer.  
“You’re really as stubborn as a donkey but not half as graceful about it.”  
-“You really expect me to cuddle with you after what you pulled earlier?”  
“C’mon”  
-“No. Goodnight”  
“Aw c’mon”  
-“ _Goodnight_.”  
“Okay, okay, goodnight”  
Tim raised his hands in defeat for a moment, lying on his back. It felt weird sleeping like this, since he had gotten so used to holding Jay close every night. He would have no choice though, putting his hands under his head and exhaling soundly.  
Exhaustion crashed down on him pretty quickly. Now that they were in a safe spot again he knew he could finally rest for as long as he wanted. Alex seemed to still be staying up, which additionally calmed him, and Evan wasn’t in bed either.  
Jay was still lying awake for a while, missing the warmth of his partner but also still being too angry at him to gave in to the urge of snuggling up to him. His blanket would have to do.  
Very soon after, both men were asleep.

All this time Evan had been sitting in the bathroom, by now curled up in the bathtub. Only slowly he found the strength to get up, downstairs, just needing a proper, soft bed. He avoided to look for where Jeff was lying, flopping down onto one of the free mattresses and pulling the blanket over his head. It was quiet, comfortingly warm under the soft fabric.  
His breath had finally calmed down, tears dry, eyes itching. Today had been way too long of a day. He hoped that once they were up again he would be able to talk with Jeff, explain, just talk it all out. _If he still talked to him at all._  
After today. Evan wasn’t so sure about that anymore, and it scared him to no end. He couldn't handle if he lost touch with Jeff, caring about him way too deeply. Jeff had been in his life pretty constantly and losing him now would rip a big hole into Evan's heart and life. On the other hand though, he would understand.  
Which didn't mean that it wouldn't break his heart.


	10. L'esprit de l'escalier

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another member joins the group and new, closer bonds are made, Jeff finding not only comfort but also similarities to himself in Alex.

For way too long now he had been walking, tiredness weakening his arms. He could barely lift his crutches anymore, feeling them dig into his flesh by now, making the spots ache.  
Added to that, his hoodie was way too thin. It had still been warmer earlier, but now it started being slightly windy, and he even could’ve sworn that it was a few degrees colder here. No way he could be sure about that though.  
Stopping for a moment he took out his phone from his pocket, unlocking. 19%. He begged it would still be enough until he’d reach his destination, since he had to rely on google maps to even find it. But, judging by the map, it was only a few more minutes from here. He had gotten the address earlier today, or late yesterday, he didn’t remember. Since the sun didn’t rise anymore it was hard to tell how much time had passed, and he had avoided using his phone too much to save battery.  
There were way too many houses in this area, all of them empty, most windows or doors broken. They were the leftovers of the mass panic that had caused people to leave in a hurry, now making the city look like some sort of ghost town. Even cars were still around here and there. It almost looked like somebody had just snipped their finger and made everybody disappear all at once.  
Some of the streetlights along the way still worked. He would’ve loved to just wander through heir light but didn’t dare to risk being seen, despite having been told that this place was safe. It was hard to trust that.

Finally his pone vibrated, signalling that he reached the right house. Turning left he looked over at it, standing and staring for a moment. Two cars were outside; looking intact  
Getting up the stairs was kind of difficult, made even trickier due to his arms starting to limp. Lifting his crutches felt like somebody was tearing on his muscles from all sides, draining him of strength even more. Silently cursing them he took a short break, leaning against the banisters, resting his limbs. Being bound to these crutches was a pain, still making him upset after all the years he already had them now. Running, even jogging or being _fast at all_ was impossible. People looked at him like he was a bother sometimes. They were exhausting to use. He hated them. The bag over his shoulders only pulled him down even more, heavy and full of cans, tins and clothes.  
Once he felt rested enough he climbed the rest of the stairs as well, thinking about whether to knock or ring the doorbell, hoping somebody would hear him.

When Jeff woke up again, the others were still asleep.  
Only slowly he rose from his mattress, taking a look around the room. Each makeshift bed had somebody in it except for one, people curled up under the blankets. Silently he made his way towards the kitchen, digging through the fridge and getting a small can of coke. He needed something against his dry, hurting throat, chugging down half of it and slightly shaking when the fizzy drink bubbled against the sensitive spot.  
Hearing steps he turned towards the door, looking up at Alex, who leant against the doorframe.  
“You’re crying”  
The shorter man nodded at that, taking another sip of his coke. He didn’t know what to say, no words he thought of seeming to be a fitting answer.  
“Need some comfort?”  
Another nod.  
Stepping closer Alex gently hugged the shaking male to his chest, feeling him weakly wrap his arms around him. Despite not knowing each other well they felt rather comfortable, just staying like this in silence. Jeff appreciated how calming the other man’s presence was. He and Alex didn’t talk much, but maybe that was the exact thing that made it so soothing; he barely knew him and didn’t ask, was just there and never pushed for answers he wouldn’t have wanted to give or any private things he didn’t feel like revealing to him just yet.  
“Hey, hey, you’re all good. You’re safe”  
The brunette murmured it against Jeff’s shoulder, who again just nodded, listening.  
“It’s gonna be fine. Maybe not now and not tomorrow, but you’ll feel better. Want me to tell you a thing?”  
It was more of a rhetoric question and he didn’t really wait for an answer. Just talking would, he hoped, calm Jeff down with time.  
“Grief is awful. It hurts, and by now, it still looks like you'll never get over it and like it'll stay as persistent as it is. But it won't stay this way. It will get better. And, you know, you're _allowed_ to mourn. You're allowed to be sad. And you don't have to bottle it up. You can express it, and with time, it'll get better. You’ll make it”  
Hesitantly he put a hand onto his Jeff’s back, silently waiting for his reaction. He didn’t twitch or jolt, which assured Alex it was fine. Slowly he began stroking his back in an up and down motion, feeling him relax, relieved.  
“It’s okay to cry. Let it all out. I’m not judging you. I understand. We all have our package to carry.”  
-“Thank you”  
Jeff’s voice was thing, slightly muffled against the brunette’s striped jacket.  
“Not for that. You helped me too. It’s only fair.”  
  


Suddenly Jeff did jolt, looking up, turning his head.   
“Did somebody knock?”  
-“I think so.”  
Worry coated his eyes but faded just as quickly as it had appeared when Jeff remembered the conversation he had had the other day on twitter.  
“I know who that is. I’ll go open up”  
His steps were light, not making any sound when he walked over to the door. Unlocking it he opened up, stepping aside to let the exhausted man in.  
“Come in, come in. Try and be quiet if possible, the others are sleeping”  
-“Thanks”  
“Are you hurt? Do you need anything?”  
Seth smiled a little bit, too tired to look as happy as he had tried to but definitely thankful.  
-“Maybe something against my headache. I also tripped but it’s nothing more than a bruise”  
Jeff led him to the kitchen, pulling a chair closer to let their new member sit down, letting him put his bag down next to the table. After asking about which side he had the bruise on he checked it, moving the man’s foot a little, relieved. It wasn’t broken or dislocated, so he just made him a cooling pack, as well as handing him an aspirin and a glass of water. He offered food too but Seth politely declined.  
Alex joined them around the kitchen table, shaking Seth’s hand, introducing himself.  
“Where you from?”  
-“Alabama. I went with a few friends at first but we got separated. I couldn’t follow them, as their plan was to run past those things and then keep going until they gave up on chasing, and well, I couldn’t run. So i just hid for a while longer and went with people here and there when somebody happened to be around that headed towards a new place. Then I came here”  
His hair was messy, slightly falling into his face. Deep bags lay under his tired eyes, skin pale. It was like all colour had left it, the green of his eyes just as faded, glassy.  
Jeff put away his to-go-pharmacy again, taking another sip of his coke.  
“You can go sleep if you want to. I want to stay up a while longer but feel free to get some rest”  
-“That’s kind, thank you”  
“Just take one of the free mattresses. The living room is just through the hallway and then the first door on the left”  
Alex got up with Seth, taking his bag.  
“Do you need this now?”  
-“Oh, yes, I wanna change my shirt”  
“I’ll carry it for you”  
-“That’s nice of you, thank you”  
Jeff nodded after them, wishing Seth a good night and emptying his coke.

Alex joined him back in the kitchen a few minutes later once he had helped Seth set up his bed, Jeff sitting on the table and letting his legs dangle. They sat next to each other just like they had done earlier, shoulders touching a bit.  
“Hey, Alex?”  
-“Hm?”  
His voice, still a whisper, was back to being thin. He seemed to have pulled himself together for the few minutes of welcoming Seth, now picking his thoughts back up where he had left them off before.  
“I don’t know how long it will still be dark and it scares me. Especially without my brother I now just feel lost”  
Alex nodded for a moment, taking a few seconds to think. He raised an arm to wrap around Jeff, stopping to ask if he was fine with it, once more relieved when he said yes.  
-“We all do. It’ s a scary situation after all. But we’re all together as a group and we will make it.”  
“I feel guilty. I should’ve asked or should’ve just, went outside earlier“  
-“Don’t feel guilty. This is not your fault. It’s not anybody’s fault. I know it is still hard to believe, but-”  
For a moment he stopped, debating whether he should bring up what he had in mind. He didn’t want to make Jeff sad. Eventually he decided to do anyway, hoping that, if he showed Jeff that he could understand, it might be easier to comfort him.  
-“I felt just the same when my girlfriend died. But you need to understand that none of this is your fault. You always did your best and were an amazing brother to him. It’s fine to be upset and it’s your right to be. It was those creatures though, not you and not anybody else.”  
“I feel like it should’ve been me”  
Slowly Alex stroked his shoulder again, slightly pulling Jeff a bit closer when he felt him shaking more violently again.  
-“I know. Cry if you need to. Don’t hold it in.”


	11. Forecast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim meets Seth, finding himself feeling a weird connection to the new member, who has a terrifying idea about their situation that nobody seems to really have thought about before.

Slowly Tim blinked, taking a while to adapt to the darkness around him. The shadows only slowly started to form into recognizable shapes and he shifted a little, stopping when he felt a weight on him.  
Turning his head he looked down at the man resting against his chest, chuckling silently.  
_So much for “we won’t cuddle”.  
_Carefully he stroked Jay’s cheek a little, watching him nuzzle a little closer in his sleep. He deserved the rest after being awake for so long, especially considering he had been awake for almost 2 days straight, and so Tim sat up very carefully, putting Jay down slowly and covering him with the blanket to keep him warm.  
Fishing for his shirt in the dark wasn’t easy but he eventually got a grasp of it, getting dressed and silently putting on his shoes. After what happened to Alex he had offered Evan to take care of his hourly outside checks for him which he thankfully agreed to, needing rest for today himself.  
Tim had no real lead on what to do exactly, but he guessed it would be enough to check the closest streets around on all sides, maybe some houses, just making sure none of those creatures was around. Lacking a proper weapon to defend himself he digged through the kitchen shelves but couldn’t find anything useful. In the case of an attack his fists would have to do. Since this was a coldspot however he didn’t worry about that too much, just getting his jacket and pressing a small peck to Jay’s forehead before going outside.

The argument from earlier still didn’t leave his mind. Maybe he had been a little mean to Jay, but really, what should he have said? Especially after Jay had brought up old stuff they had went over for so many times.  
Not that it wasn’t important but they discussed this so often now, he was tired of it. It had been months and _Jay_ was the one who offered to try it again because he didn’t want their relationship to break apart from a one time thing. He felt bad, yes, but by now he also was just bored of talking about this again and again.  
Tim kept following along the road, taking a turn left at the end of it, looking left and right. Not many houses were around and most of them looked pretty empty and like they hadn’t been used for a whole wile now.  
Luckily there was no forest around that could be a hiding place for any of those creatures, so it seemed to be safe, but still he wanted to be completely sure. The walk cleared his head too which was a calming side effect, giving him time to sort his thoughts and properly form them.  
He thought about Brian. Jay. Michael. Jeff and Evan. Jessie. Alex.  
Recalling what had happened hours ago made his chest tighten. After Jeff’s breakdown he really questioned whether his way of handling the situation had been right or if he should’ve told him beforehand. On the other hand though it had been the only way to assure they would get to this safe spot and not stay there. He wouldn’t have wanted more people to die. It was conflicting.  
Peeking into one of the houses he broke with his thought for a moment, checking whether he could see anything. It seemed to be empty though, nothing to be heard but the slight creaking of the door from the wind. For a moment he was tempted to go inside but, if there do was something hiding here, maybe upstairs, he didn’t want to risk being hurt. Jay needed him.  
If it hadn’t been for him he wouldn’t try as hard in this whole situation.  
  


The way back was just as quiet, nothing happening except for a cat crossing the road. The creatures didn’t attack anybody but humans from what Tim knew and really it made him happy in some way.  
This part of the city was completely empty and so was the small supermarket he passed. Tim had searched it for a moment for anything useful, stepping in through the broken glass front, but couldn’t find anything other than some crushed tins and spilled bottles. He did find some frozen fish in one of the coolers but wasn’t so sure if it was still edible.  
Slowly he walked down the road towards the house they rested in, hands in his pockets. Lights were still out so the others seemed to still be asleep, which now confronted Tim with a problem.  
He had no keys.  
Silently cursing himself for forgetting them he thought about what to do now, quickly deciding against ringing the doorbell. Instead he knocked, hoping somebody was still awake and would hear. Maybe Alex was still up, although he hadn’t seen him on his way out. He got no answer though, knocking again after waiting for a while. Still nothing.  
Groaning he sat on the stairs, running a hand over his face, leaning his head against the banisters. He had no other option, since breaking in was impossible and would’ve woken people up which he didn’t want. Every now and then he knocked again but was starting to get tired of it.

Finally though, after what seemed like hours, somebody answered when he knocked. The door opened slowly and only halfway, making Tim, who was already going back to sit own, flip his head around, looking at the person who had opened up.  
“Yes?”  
They whispered, peeking out behind the door, finally opening it all the way when they had assured themselves that Tim didn’t look like he was any source of danger. Tim had to stop for a moment to assure himself he wasn’t dreaming.  
For a moment he had mistaken the man on the crutches for his deceased friend. In the dark he did look very similar to him, with his slight waves and crouched posture.  
-“Sorry, I forgot my keys. I just went out to check the area”  
“Ah. Come in then.”  
-“I don’t think I met you before?”  
“Yea, everybody was asleep when I came here. I’m Seth”  
-“Tim”  
They just nodded at each other, Tim finally coming inside and taking off his jacket. Seth watched him for a moment before he went into the kitchen, going back to having something to eat. Tim thought about going back to bed but instead followed after him, sitting at the table.

“Are you from around here?”  
Seth started a conversation, more or less whispering, taking a bite of his sandwich.  
-“No, Alabama. My fiancé and I were picked up by the others and joined them”  
“I see”  
Silence for a while in which both just minded their own business, Seth eating and Tim checking his phone. Twitter was blowing up but he didn’t feel like checking it, just scrolling through his gallery and looking at some older pictures. He had to smile every now and then at how happy Jay looked in the pictures they took on different trips, getting lost in memories.  
“Hey, uh, Seth. You think the sun will come back?”  
The man sitting on the other side of the table tilted his head, then shrugging.  
-“Not sure, really. I mean I hope so. I’m not sure how long we could survive like this.”  
He had a point. The temperature wasn’t a big problem, but Tim did start to wonder what they were supposed to do about food. Meat was still available, even if they would have to start eating animals they usually didn’t at some point. But growing any vegetables or other things was pretty much impossible without sunlight.  
Seth was thinking just as much.  
It didn’t make sense.  
The sun had been gone for more than 2 months by now and yet, it wasn’t as cold as it should be. Not that he minded, he didn’t, _but it just made no sense_. It wasn’t supposed to even be warm at all.  
Had nobody before questioned how it was warm in some places still? Why it was colder in others?  
Why the creatures only really haunted the hotspots?  
He started to make some connections here, rubbing his temples.

  
“I just thought of something”  
-“Hm?”  
“Did you ever wonder how it is still warm in some places without the sun?”  
Tim stopped for moment, blinking.  
-“What do you mean?”  
“Just think about it. How could that happen? And where even are those creatures from? Why do they only attack people? Who contaminates the water? Who keeps the hotspots warm? Who even keeps everything from freezing in the first place?”  
His and Tim’s eyes met, locking gazes.  
Seth looked scared.  
He really did resemble Brian. They had a similar eye shape, roundish, almost childish; even Seth’s lips had the same form, slightly curved, thin; it did something to Tim. He had barely any to no connection to him at all yet he felt like it was his responsible to keep him safe.  
Felt like he was sitting here with Brian.  
His thought was interrupted by Seth who put his hands on the table, voice shaking.  
“What if something _is up there_ blocking the sun from our view and just waiting for us to die without destroying the entire earth?”


	12. Phantom Pains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes the worst pain comes from overthinking things.

“Like, what? Do you mean some kind of alien invasion?”  
-“Maybe”  
Tim huffed, shaking his head. This all sounded crazy. This entire situation was crazy but a part of him still hoped for there to be some kind of rational explanation. Maybe the moon just covered the sun or something.  
“That makes no sense. Such things don’t exist”  
-“So the things that are outside have some _totally normal_ explanation?”  
“I don’t know, maybe. Probably”  
-“So, then what is it?”  
Again Tim shrugged, looking away.  
“The moon or something. Mutated animals.”  
-“The moon is keeping the earth warm in some areas and mutation caused those creatures, that look way too humanoid, to haunt us.”  
His voice was dripping from sarcasm, making Tim shrug.  
“Yea, okay, maybe you have a point”  
They looked at each other, both not sure what to do now. They would need to tell the others about that idea, maybe discuss other theories, try and think of a solution. But what could they do about it? There was nothing they could’ve done other than try and survive; they wouldn’t be able to do anything against an invasion. Especially considering how dangerous the creatures were.  
“We’ll just have to wait for the others to wake up and maybe talk about it all together. Maybe some of them know anything that could help us”  
Seth nodded, fiddling with his fingers. He really hated this situation. Hated the thought that he could die soon and not even prepare for it. Hated that he would barely see anything of the world. He had so many plans and there were so many places he wanted to see.  
-“I gotta charge my phone. I have to look up some stuff.”

It was like a giant weight was pulling Jay down, keeping him on the mattress. The space next to him was empty, feeling cold when he reached out his hand, patting it around to feel for Tim. He seemed to have been up for a while now.  
The first thought Jay had was how this reminded him of all those nights he laid awake alone, wondering where Tim was when he knew just exactly what he was doing. Wondering who he was with.  
The past months he had avoided thinking of all this because it always triggered an uncomfortable feeling in his chest, like something was squeezing it together. Tim’s presence was hanging off his fragile bones like a ghost; was like a lingering touch on one of Jay’s limbs he didn’t have any longer. A phantom pain he still felt when it wasn’t there, clinging onto the remaining bits of the love he used to feel coated in.  
It was times like this where he wondered if Tim still loved him. He said he did but sometimes it was hard to believe. Jay wasn’t sure if it had been the right thing to keep trying so hard when it felt like Tim didn’t fight as much for their relationship and took it for granted. He did love Tim, a lot, but a relationship that drained him would be too much. He wouldn’t be able to handle it for much longer.  
With a big yawn he sat up, running a hand through his hair. It was way too warm and comfortable under his blanket to get up now but he was hungry, reluctantly pulling it aside and lifting himself up. The low light of the small desk lamp was visible in the kitchen and he headed towards it, slowly, more dragging himself than anything else.

“Hey.”  
Seth looked over at the man that entered the kitchen, Tim’s gaze visibly softening at the sight of Jay rubbing his eyes, only in shirt and boxers.  
-“Hey there. Seth, meet my fiancé, Jay”  
They nodded at each other, Jay grabbing for a chair and sitting down with them. The first thing Seth noticed about the tall brunette were his differently coloured eyes. Then just how tired he looked, pale, deep eye bags painting his face.  
Another thing he noticed was how Tim’s expression had changed. It was gentle now, a warmth coating his eyes and small, barely noticeable smile playing around his lips.  
“We have thought about something that could be important”  
-“Oh?”  
Jay was suddenly wide awake, looking at them, curious. Seth continued on, folding his hands together.  
“So, this might sound really weird, but what if all of this was some form of invasion? Some mission by those creatures to wipe humans off the face of the earth so they can settle here instead?”

“What?”  
Jay was definitely confused now. This was _way_ too fast and direct for him.  
“What do you mean? Invasion?”  
-“Just, think about it. What else would cover the sun like that and still keep the earth warm? If the sun had just been covered by natural causes we would be freezing to death right now. Something is keeping us warm”  
“That still doesn’t make sense”  
-“I know but what even _does_ make sense anymore at this point”  
“Well, you’re right, but... this all sounds a bit. Just. Insane”  
Tim shuffled closer to Jay, taking his hand, but Jay pulled it back. He tried to not make it too obvious in front of Seth, though. He didn’t need to know.  
-“I know, I know. It was just an idea. But I think it might be a possibility”  
The scrawny brunette ran a hand through his hair, sighing, looking away. He was a bit ashamed of having spoken about his thought now, starting to doubt it himself.  
It wasn’t very plausible, now that he reconsidered it. But on the other hand, what was a more reasonable explanation?  
Tim let his gaze bounce between the two men, trying to add something to the conversation, not so sure what to think himself.  
“I mean. What if it’s just, something natural? Maybe some sort of very long solar eclipse?”  
-“I’m sure those don’t work like that, Tim. We would still see _something_ ”  
“So you think aliens make more sense?”  
-“Honestly?”  
Jay shifted his weight in his chair, slightly swaying, as he tended to do when debating whether to say what he was thinking or not.  
-“Yes. It weirdly enough makes more sense to me. I doubt it’s something natural. Seth has a point. What is keeping us warm? Definitely not the sun”  
“I don’t know. Maybe you’re right, who knows. Does it really matter though? At least we’re all alive”  
He got a side glare from Jay that shot through him like a bullet, intense and destructive. Maybe it had been an insensitive thing to say.

Evan’s shoulders hurt.  
Slowly he opened his eyes, rubbing them, still feeling them itch.  
 _He had fallen asleep in the bathtub.  
_ Every inch of his body felt sore, throat hurting. He tried to lift his arms and climb out but didn’t have the strength to, sinking back down. Cursing silently he clawed to the rim again, trying it one more time, again falling, before he finally succeeded in standing up.  
His body was shaking but at least he was standing, swaying for a moment before he felt ready to step out. It was too dark for him to really see anything, which he welcomed. He wouldn’t have wanted to see himself in the mirror now, guessing that he looked horrible from crying and the few hours of sleep he had gotten.  
Slowly he stumbled out of the bathroom, legs weak. They were shaking all the time, barely able to hold him upright or even carry him along the hallway.  
Very quickly he realised that he had gotten up too fast. His sight blurred, head pulsing, nausea kicking in. It took a moment for it to fade in which he leant against the wall, eyes closed. His first goal now was downstairs, the kitchen specifically, to grab a glass of water. But the few stairs at the end of the hallway felt miles away and itself like a huge obstacle.  
Evan knew that they couldn’t continue on as before if there were any disagreements between people in the group. Jeff was dear to him, being the last person he had left at this point (that was this close), and losing him was no option. He wanted to keep being friends, keep being a team, keep talking and getting through this together.  
He had to say sorry. Had to apologize and talk this out with him, just clear things up, comfort him as he should’ve already done. Hopefully the others did for him so far.  
He would’ve hated for Jeff to be alone in this.  
On the other hand he also wondered what would’ve happened if it had been him. If Jeff would mourn him the same way.  
Giving up was no option though. He still had things to fight for. Vinnie and Steph, who didn’t make it this far. Alex. The other members of their group. Jessie who had his own loss to handle alongside all this trouble. And especially Jeff who had been around since they were kids. Losing him would be especially unbearable; would be like losing a part of himself.  
Evan had always called Jeff his “better half”, the person who brought him back onto the right path when he lost track of it. He was such a genuinely good person that rethinking the argument from yesterday _hurt_.  
Not that he wouldn’t understand if Jeff said he didn’t want to talk about it. But they needed to.  
Evan couldn’t have handled losing his last piece of motivation.


	13. #66

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jay finally gets his chance at approaching TIm to talk things out

The first thing that crossed Jessie’s mind when he woke up was _breakfast_. Or, well, lunch, whatever time it was. His stomach craved food, growling and hurting from having nothing to devour.  
His headache luckily had faded overnight and for once within the last weeks he actually felt well-rested. First thing he did was digging through his bag to find his charging cable, taking a while to find the socket as well, sighing in relief when his phone started charging.  
He turned it on once it was at 15% which only took like 2 minutes, checking what he had missed. Twitter was once again blowing up, people posting about their situation, plans, ideas about what might have happened. Quickly he opened Jeff’s twitter, looking through his posts. People usually commented here when they were close to ask if they could come join and since Jeff still wasn’t in the best condition he did it for him. It didn’t seem like anybody was around right now, though.  
Getting up he made his way towards the kitchen, silently sneaking around the beds. Jeff’s was still occupied, another mattress shoved next to his, but he didn’t bother to go check who it was. It wasn’t any of his business anyway.  
Evan, Tim, Jay and another man he didn’t recognise were in the kitchen, sitting at the table, looking up and nodding in his direction. The brunette he didn’t know yet introduced himself as Seth, offering him to join in their conversation.  
“What we talkin’ about?”  
-“I just had an idea about what might be happening right now”  
“I’ll gladly join the talk. Lemme just grab something to eat first”

Evan was silent the entire time, just listening, stirring in his coffee. He made it but now didn’t have the strength to drink it, head still spinning. The light of the single desk lamp they had turned on in the kitchen was rather bright, hurting his eyes, adding to his discomfort.  
Following the conversation he took a sip of his already cold load of caffeine, not having anything to add. Half of his mind was still busy thinking about how to approach Jeff after all this, too.  
His gaze went over everybody that was here right now, noticing Jay slightly tug Tim’s sleeve and nod his head towards the stairs. They looked at each other for a moment before they got up, the shorter man running a hand through his hair.  
“We’ll be right back. Just gotta talk for a moment”  
Jessie nodded after them, turning his attention towards Seth, picking the conversation back up. Evan still didn’t really have anything to say, listening, thinking, only half here. Most of his mind was still busy thinking about how to talk to Jeff again.  
He didn’t want to lose him as a friend. He needed him. They’ve been doing this together for so long now, they were a team. Evan may had the physical strength but Jeff had the brain, the smarts, the care and comfort. They needed both of those energies to work out, balance each other out. At least he thought so. The thought of Jeff not needing him as much kind of scared him.  
Spacing out again he kept stirring in his by now cold drink, only coming back down to earth when somebody touched his shoulder.  
“You still here with us?”  
-“Ah, yes. Just, thinking”  
“You good, man? Looking pale”  
Jessie looked concerned but Evan just shook his head, waving it off.  
-“Yeah, just slept bad. Thinkin’ about what we should do next, yenno? Just some stuff. I’m good”  
“Wanna eat something? I’m full, you can have the rest of my sandwich”  
-“Nah, I’m good. Thanks. Do y’think we should leave again soon?”  
Evan tried to just continue on the conversation, to get his mind somewhere else. Making himself sad or worry now wouldn’t have any use for him. Jeff still needed time, time he was gladly giving him. He could approach him after giving him the freedom to grieve on his own. Maybe it was for the best, even if it would be hard to stay away from him.  
Jeff had always had something about him that drew people in. First Evan and now Alex. They seemed to have grown rather close over a short period of time after what happened.  
He was glad somebody was able to comfort Jeff, even though he would’ve wished that person to be him.

Jay slightly pulled Tim after him, towards the stairs, sitting down there. Tim took a seat next to him, waiting for him to start. For a while they just sat in silence.  
“Tim, we need to finally talk”  
-“Mhm”  
Again the brunette hesitated, trying to find a way to start this without sounding too mean. It was hard to think of a starting point.  
“About the thing with Brian- I just, I don’t know. I feel like you don’t try as much anymore and it just makes me sad”  
Tim nodded, looking down. He didn’t have anything to answer, feeling a bit overwhelmed. He wasn’t aware it came off this way – for him nothing much had changed, except for the fact that he took Jay out to eat more often or took more days off. Apparently Jay felt like he wasn’t trying anymore and it really made him rethink a lot, kind of spacing out.  
“I love you but it feels like you don’t love me as much anymore and just continue this relationship because you did for years already”  
-“That’s not- That’s not what I think this is”  
“But it feels like it”  
Jay looked at him now, his brown and blue eyes teary. It was like he was searching Tim’s for an answer, for anything that would indicate what he thought, for a piece of emotion in his indistinct chocolate depths.  
Tim tried to keep up the eye contact but had to break it.  
-“Look, I’m sorry if it comes off this way. I love you more than anything, really. I just struggle with showing it. “  
“You were pretty good at it before. What changed?”  
That question threw him back again, simply because he couldn’t answer.  
He didn’t know.

The taller man waited for a reply without getting one. Tim was quiet, opening his mouth to answer, closing it again, giving up trying to form sentences. All he could think of was how Jay must’ve felt.  
He had messed up, yes, he had. Definitely. Thinking back to it he didn’t even know what made him decide to have a go with his former best friend. What made him decide to tell him things that were straight up lies to get some comfort in the form of sexual contact. _Why_ he had even wanted that contact from somebody else when he had Jay by his side, somebody who had never given up on him and their relationship; even _after_ all this he hadn’t, not for one single day, had worked hard to make it work again. He had tried his best and exhausted himself, and Tim?  
Had blocked his attempts and didn’t talk about it, pretended it never happened and avoided the topic. Apologised and moved on without thinking about the greatness of Jay’s actions.  
How many people would forgive their partner?  
Would try and fix things? Talk it out? Approach the one who cheated with reconciliation offers when they weren’t the one in the wrong?  
Tim leant closer, softly grabbing Jay’s hands.  
-“I’m so, _so_ very sorry. I didn’t ever want you to think that I love you any less than I did when we first got together. You mean everything to me.”  
Jay peeked aside, frowning, looking sad.  
“I feel like I’m not enough for you”  
-“Hey, hey, shhh. Don’t think that. You’re more than enough”  
“You don’t really show me that, Tim. I don’t want you to shower me in constant praise but I just... don’t want to feel like you cheated on me because I didn’t give you enough of what you need. I don't want to feel like you're doing nothing more but _allowing me_ to be there. I don't want to lose this and I don’t want to keep dancing around our problems simply because we don’t want to fight. We need to fight sometimes, Tim. We need to yell and be mad and hate each other for a few days. We can’t always pretend that everything is going perfect. And that’s _okay_. We can’t repress things, because I’m afraid of it piling up and ending bad. I just don't want to lose you”  
The black-haired man nodded in response, pulling Jay’s hands some closer. Gently he pressed kisses onto his fingers, eyes closed, exhaling soundly and keeping them against his lips.  
-“I understand. I don’t want you to feel bad in this relationship. I care about you and I promise we will talk things out sooner and not keep any concerns to ourself. No more secrets?”  
Jay nodded, shifting, moving some closer  
“No more secrets.”  
-“Hey, does the water here work?”  
Jay was a little confused, tilting his head. The questioned seemed a bit out of place.  
“I guess. It should. Warm and cold runs in the kitchen at least”  
-“Great. I need to take a shower really bad. How about we go together?”


	14. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go well. No further incidents break down on the group, that begins growing even closer, until yet again circumstances strike back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of a TW for some blood/gore in this one!

Jeff was standing by the fridge, listening to music on headphones, looking for something to eat. It had calmed down a little over the past weeks, no creatures disturbing them. Thing almost went normal now. Every now and then two of the men in the house went out to check the surroundings, never spotting anything significant. They were just getting along, spending their time talking or napping the boredom away.  
So far, the hotspots didn’t shift again. They were still in the same location after they found enough supplies for all their needs in other houses, just waiting things out.  
Jay and Evan had gone out earlier for the daily outside check, searching houses for some more bottled water. The group had a made a week plan of who went when to get a bit of a sense of order in this and had even made a cleaning and cooking plan, even if there was nothing much to cook. Every now and then Jeff checked on Alex’s wounds and had taken out the stitches. It had healed as well as it could, leaving big scars, which he didn’t mind too much. He knew Jeff had given his best.  
Avoiding talking about the current situation unless it was essential had helped all of them to deal with it better. They mostly just talked about everyday things now, discussing films or other things, even playing cards against humanity or other small games they had found in a shelf in the living room.

Today it was his task to prepare lunch. So, Jeff took out some plates, heating some mac n cheese in the microwave. Again, he wondered how long electricity would still work; until now it had been working fine, but who knew how much longer emergency reserves would still hold out. Though, considering there were only little survivors left, he guessed it would be enough for a while.  
Once done he went out into the living room, bringing the plates with the food. Tim, Alex, Seth and Jessie joined Jeff on the floor around the little makeshift table that was simply made of stacked books, thanking him for the food and quickly getting to eating.  
“Hey… how long have they been outside now?”  
The curly-haired male was only poking around in his lunch, not really in the mood to eat. The music coming through only the left earbud was still running but he couldn’t focus on it either.  
-“Not sure. Maybe an hour? Should be back soon”  
He nodded in reply to Jessie, looking towards the door for a minute. Sparky was curled up near it, asleep, slightly wagging her tail sometimes.  
“Hey, what about we have a nice group evening today?”  
-“Don’t we have these every day?”  
“yea but we didn’t play anything in a few days!”  
Jessie chuckled a little, Seth looking up from his food and smiling.  
“Sounds fun. Whatcha planning?”  
Jeff grinned, poking around in his food some more.  
-“How about something like. Spin the bottle? Never have I ever? Truth or dare maybe”  
Tim huffed, finishing his bite. He had the messiest hair out of everybody in the group, being too lazy to really do anything with it since there was no real reason to go out anymore. It kept falling into his face and he brushed it back with his hand, putting his spoon down.  
“Isn’t that more something for… teens?”  
-“It could be fun!”  
“If you say so”  
-“And anyway, it can be a good way to find out more about each other. Grow closer as a group”  
Seth chimed in again, nodding, mouth half full.  
“He has a point”  
-“See? Now we just need to wait for the others to come back”

Once done with eating Jeff was back in the kitchen to do the dishes, Alex helping him out and drying them right away, Jessie sorting them into the shelves and almost dropping half of it. The work was done quick, everything put away, Alex gently grabbing Jeff by the shoulders and pushing him towards the living room carefully when he wanted to start grabbing for the broom to clean around the kitchen.  
“You go sit down. You’ve done enough today. You cleaned the windows and wiped every possible surface. You should rest”  
Sighing in defeat Jeff didn’t fight it, sinking down into his mattress. Ever since the accident with Alex he had mostly occupied his time with household tasks, distracting himself and trying to make time pass quicker. Boredom, too, was a factor in it. There just wasn’t a lot to do. He couldn’t go for normal walks but did often volunteer for the outside check, appreciating the fresh air and having something to focus on.  
“There’s some dust and dirt on the floor though”  
-“You can do that tomorrow, or I’ll tell Tim to do it”  
“But I have nothing else to do”  
-“You should sleep”  
“I don’t wanna sleep”  
He pouted, more playfully than really upset, Alex chuckling.  
“But you should. Try it at least. A few hours ago you still told me you were sleepy”  
-“Fine. But I’ll care for the kitchen later”  
“I’ll do it. You shouldn’t feel obligated to do all that”  
-“I don’t, I’m just bored and need something to do! I’m dying of boredom”  
“We’ll find something to do. But, I gotta say it, you look like you didn’t sleep in days”  
Jeff laughed a little at that, running a hand over his face, patting the space next to him. Alex understood, sitting down with a small ‘oof’ and exhale.  
“You never really told me about what you’ve been doing before all this”  
-“Yea, I’m not really talkative, am I”  
“Not usually, no”  
Fiddling with his hands the brunette with the glasses looked down, away, then back at Jeff. He didn’t really like talking about private things too much usually, didn’t feel like everybody needed to know, but Jeff felt more like a friend than a stranger, and so he leant back, staring up at the ceiling.  
“Well. I was in college. I was focusing on film class, camera stuff, those things. And I barely started my job before all this happened. Nothing exciting yet though, I worked at a news channel and did some behind the scenes work"  
-“Film? That’s pretty cool. You wanna be like, a director?”  
"Kinda. Maybe. Hey, can I ask you something?"  
Jeff nodded, tilting his head and smiling, awaiting the question. Alex thought about how to word it for a moment, slightly nervous.  
-"Uh, the other day I noticed this thing about your eyes- if you don't wanna answer that's fine and I apologize, but I'm just curious"  
"Oh that!"  
The curly-haired man laughed a little, lightly. He hadn't been so happy in days, not since Alex had passed away, and Alex was glad to see he was doing a little better. Added to that, he was relieved the question didn't bother Jeff, even though he assumed lots of people would ask him about it.  
"It's called pupula duplex. And while it looks pretty cool, I'm actually blind on that eye."  
-"It does look cool! It's. Really pretty actually."

Jay’s legs hurt from running. Finding the house again was harder than expected and he got lost before finally reaching a spot he recalled seeing on their tour outside, speeding towards the door.  
He dropped the keys accidentally, hands shaking almost violently, trying to find the right one and attempting to get it into the lock. It took him a few tries until it fit and he could open up, stumbling in.  
“Jeff!”  
He called out, Tim coming towards the door when he heard his fiancés voice. He stopped for a moment in shock, quickly taking off his thin jacket and wrapping it around the scared looking man standing in the corridor. Jay was pale, dark stains on his clothes and some sprinkled on his cheek. The man he had called for quickly hurried towards the scene, followed by Alex, who both stared at him.  
-“What happened?”  
“Evan”  
-“What about him? Did something happen?”  
“Evan... by the supermarket. He’s bleeding”  
Alex nodded and reacted quick, getting the small pharmacy bag from the kitchen. Jeff tried to ask jay for what exactly was wrong but he was too shocked to really reply anything useful, just saying Evan had a big wound of some sort and couldn’t walk.  
“Okay. We’ll both go. Take care of Jay”  
Nodding towards Tim, who nodded back, Alex followed Jeff outside. The supermarket was a bit down the street, a good 10 minutes walk, and it took way too long for Jeff’s liking. It seemed like the street was stretching before their eyes, like they didn’t get forward at all and were standing in place. Alex kept his hand on Jeff’s back after making sure he wasn’t uncomfortable with the touch, keeping an eye out, suddenly stopping and holding Jeff when he saw something.

“Jeff?”  
-“Yea?”  
“I think there’s something here”  
-“God, not again!”  
He took a deep breath, clutching the to-go-pharmacy some more, sharing a quick gaze with the other man. The light in the distance was bouncing up and down but didn’t seem to be flickering; still not very trustworthy, though. After the long silence and other events everything that was out of the usual ordinary had to be seen as a potential danger.  
It was better to be safe than sorry.  
“It doesn’t look like one of… them. What do we do?”  
-“we need to go, Alex. Jay said Evan is bleeding and-“  
“Yea, yea. It’s fine. Okay, look. I’ll go a little bit in front of you, okay? Here, take it”  
Handing Jeff the bag he took another long look around, lowering his voice a bit.  
“Alright. I go first. You take the pharmacy bag. If anything happens, I’ll take care of it and you just keep going to find Evan, alright?”  
It took Jeff a moment to nod, assuring him he understood. Even though he didn’t like Alex potentially putting himself in danger he greatly appreciated the gesture, begging that it was nothing more than maybe a streetlight.  
Continuing on both men were walking a bit faster now, Alex a good 3 steps further ahead. The light was coming closer, still bouncing sometimes, moving around like it was searching. The supermarket was now in vision though, even if still far away, and it made Jeff feel a little relieved. He silently begged for Evan to keep pushing through just for a while longer.  
They kept going like this for a few more minutes, just walking, when the light Alex had his eyes on all the time suddenly turned off. He stopped, blinking to make sure he hadn’t just missed it, waiting for it to turn back on, but it didn’t. Jeff had noticed it as well, now catching up, looking around.  
“Where is it?”  
-“I don’t know. It’s gone.”  
Waiting another moment in which nothing changed the shorter man finally kept going, grabbing the taller brunette’s sleeve, pulling him after him.  
“Alright. We’re almost there”

Evan looked up slowly, hissing in pain, holding his stomach. Jeff had more or less sprinted the last bits of the way, calling for his friend, kneeling down next to him. It was hard to see the wound properly, the only low light source coming from the advertisement signs in the shop window, but from what he could see there was _way too much blood_.  
“Evan!”  
-“God, fuck, this hurts like shit”  
Coughing the wounded man leant his head back, against the wall behind him, taking deep, scratchy breaths. Blood was running over his lips, staining his shirt, hands pressing onto his wounded flesh in a poor attempt to stop the bleeding.  
“Fuck, what happened?”  
Examining the wound as good as he could while Alex digged through the bag they had with them Jeff sniffed a little, fighting back tears. He felt overwhelmed, didn’t prepare for such a wound, and if he was honest knew he didn’t have the tools to properly care for it.  
-“We wanted to go in and… I tripped over some of all the trash around here, ‘n fell… right into the glass. Fuck. Jeff, jeff, I’m fucking dying, Jeff”  
Alex looked up, then over at the supermarket. The glass doors and windows were broken and despite the darkness he did spot the blood that was Evan’s. he must’ve fallen forward, slicing his stomach on the sharp edges.  
“No, no you’re not. I’ve got you!”  
-“Jeff, this is useless- ouw!”  
He whined in pain when Jeff touched his wound, pulling his hands back immediately, apologizing. Taking the bag he looked for a bandaid but couldn’t find it quick enough, silently cursing, looking over at Evan when he felt him grab his wrist.  
“Jeff, no. Look, you can’t do anything-“  
-“No, I can! I just, need to find it”  
“I’m fucking dying, Jeff. You can’t just fix this. My whole stomach is sliced, you idiot.”

“No, no no no-“  
Stopping in his motion the curly-haired male shuffled some closer when Evan almost slipped down to the side, holding him, letting him rest his head against his chest. Sniffing he wrapped his arms around him, looking at Alex with pleading eyes, who sat in silence. He gave him a sympathetic look back but slightly shook his head, mouthed a little ‘we can’t’ at him.  
Evan coughed again.  
“Jeff… do you remember- when we were. Younger? I was 7 and I couldn’t sleep because I was scared.”  
-“Evan-“  
“No, like- remember what you used to sing when I couldn’t fall asleep?”  
-“…Only… the melody, but…Yea, Why?”  
Talking took Evan a lot of strength. He had to fight hard to keep his eyes open, stinging pain numbing his legs and arms, starting to get to the rest of his body as well. He couldn’t even move his head anymore. Another coughing fit ripped through him, making him jolt, thick blood and saliva filling his mouth.  
Tears began rolling over Jeff’s cheeks, his voice stuck in his throat.  
“I- I’m gonna die here. I’m…I’m scared, Jeff”

-“You… you don’t have to be. I’m here. I got you”  
Hugging Evan some closer he recalled the memories, the song, but no matter how hard he tried the lyrics wouldn’t come to him. He knew what Evan needed right now.  
Silently he began humming to him, rocking him in his arms. One hand he buried in his dark brown hair, stroking it. Even if his breath was still shaking he just kept going to not interrupt the melody that used to calm Evan so well.  
The bleeding man felt tiredness creeping up on him, beginning to replace the fear. Jeff’s voice was progressively comforting him, accompanied by the rocking movement and hairstrokes.

Alex watched in silence, eyes watering but keeping himself together. Jeff was so gentle with Evan, was holding him safe like a mother holding her child, still humming, not stopping despite his crying. The events around his brother and his anger towards Evan didn’t matter right now. Not even the situation they were in mattered.  
All that mattered was taking Evan’s fear and staying with him through this until he eventually passed away as peacefully as he could against Jeff’s chest.


	15. Patrick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After yet another loss, the group is debating about what to do next. Staying for much longer is not possible, their stock of food starting to run low. While looking up possible new hiding playes however, Jay recieves a message on Twitter relating to somebody he had almost forgotten about.

Alex kept his arm around Jeff all the time of them going back to the house. The way seemed even longer now; their eyes adapted to the darkness by now. Jeff still had blood stains on his arms and shirt and he just wanted to get them off.  
“Feeling better?”  
Right after he had asked Alex felt stupid for asking that question, hoping Jeff hadn’t heard. How was he supposed to be fine? He had just lost Evan after all.  
-“I’’m good. You’re here, so. Feelin’ a lot less lonely”  
“Let me know if you need a break”  
-“Thank you. I’ll be okay”  
The taller brunette nodded, continuing to go forward. After they had put Evan down inside of the Supermarket, to not leave him out in the open like that, his back had started hurting. He had gotten injured by the broken glass, on his back, and his shirt sticked to the wound.  
“You will go lie down once we’re home, okay?”  
-“yea…”  
Jeff’s thoughts were overwhelming. He had so many of them, trying to sort and focus on one at a time, but was barely able to even properly grasp any of them without another one distracting him.  
Despite knowing that it wasn’t the last time for them to meet the shock hang off his bones still, making him feel heavy. Walking drained him of the bit of energy he had left right now, running low on motivation and freezing, and Alex seemed to notice that he had slowed down.  
“Do you want me to carry you?”  
-“Hm? Oh. No, thanks, we’re almost there anyway”  
“you sure?”  
-“Yea. Thanks, though”  
The taller man stopped for a moment, looking over at Jeff. He had gotten used to the darkness, enough for him to be able to get a quite good lock of Jeff’s face. His eyes were still red, puffed from crying, but he had stopped to actively cry. His voice was still a little hoarse though, quiet and scratchy.  
“Hey, Jeff?”  
-“Yea?”  
They looked at each other, continuing to walk, the house coming closer and closer.  
“If you want to we can both go sleep for a while. I can put my mattress next to yours again, if you want to. Unless you’d rather have some space”  
A little smile played around Jeff’s lips, fiddling in his pockets for his keys when they went up the few stairs towards the door.  
-“That would be nice. Thank you, Alex”

Once inside, the first thing Jeff did was go look for Jay. He was sitting in the living room with Tim and Seth, talking about casual stuff and debating about what to do next, all of them looking up at the two men that came in. Sparky bounced up and down, wagging her tail, happy to see her owner again.  
“Hey Jay, how are you?”  
-“Doing okay, I guess. How ‘bout you?”  
“It goes. Do you need anything?”  
-“No, I’m okay. Just had some scratches on my hands and changed clothes, that’s all. I put them into the bathtub, you can add yours too”  
“I will, thank you”  
Jessie joined them, coming from the kitchen. Sharing a glance with Jeff he immediately knew what had happened, offering a warm hug, patting his shoulder. He didn’t really ask, not wanting to force Jeff to recall it again and talk about it, just letting him know he was there to support him.  
In the short time they had been together as a group he and Jeff had really bonded, especially over their mutual understanding of what's it like to lose ones parents. They had spent endless nights just talking, venting, maybe crying together, and while Jessie wasn't the best at expressing his affection, he really appreciated to have found a friend and hoped he understood how much he cared about him.  
“Hey, Alex, wait for a moment. I’m getting the lamp and some bandages”  
-“Don’t you want to lie down instead?”  
“Afterwards. Just, let me help you out, okay?”  
Nodding the taller man headed towards their “beds”, grasping onto his mattress. He pulled it over, putting it down next to Jeff’s, sitting down and running a hand over his face.  
The way Jeff had held Evan, had cradled him in his arms, wouldn’t stop leaving his mind. It had been so soft, so gentle, and Jeff had stayed so strong despite what was happening. Of course he probably only had held it together to make it a bit easier for Evan, but still, the fact that he was even able to do that and handle it so well moved something in Alex. He was an even stronger person than he had thought.  
After his brother had passed away he had started to focus more on caring for the group, probably to keep himself busy and distract himself, had made sure they would have enough food and meds in stock for all of them; made everybody feel like they were a little family.

Just a few moments later Jeff sat with Alex, putting up the desk lamp to have it light up the small wounds on the brunette’s back. Soaking the cloth he brought in a bowl of warm water he began to first clean off the blood and some of the dirt and fabric pieces from the shirt that stuck to it, taking tweezers to pick out small pieces of glass.  
“Ouw”  
-“Sorry. Almost done. Just disinfecting and then I’ll wrap ‘em up”  
Alex had already got used to the burning of the alcohol, just silently hissing for a moment. It didn’t really hurt as much, since it was only a smaller wound, and definitely less than his facial wounds had hurt.  
They had to wrap the bandages all the way around Alex’s chest to cover the wound, Jeff being as careful as possible, smiling a bit once done and handing the other male a new shirt.  
“Hey, lemme have a look at your face too”  
At first Alex wanted to protest, tell him to just lie down and rest, but he knew any distraction helped Jeff to get his mind off what happened earlier. So, he just turned around, closing his eyes and letting the shorter man do.  
The scratches had healed pretty well, nothing oozing anywhere, the stitches fully healed. Jeff knew it would leave scars but that was no issue.  
“Okay. All done.”  
-“Right. Let’s sleep some?”  
“Yea.”  
Jay, who had been sitting on the sofa with the others, looked over at the two in the corner. The got ready to go to bed, Jeff quickly changing his shirt as well, putting the old one with the stains aside.  
“Hey, want me to put that into the bathtub for you, Jeff?”  
-“Oh? That would be nice, thanks”  
“We’ll go into the kitchen for a while so you can sleep”  
-“You really don’t have to”  
“Nono, you need some time. It’s fine. We wanna talk about where we could go once we have to leave and just, further plans.”  
Tim nodded, looking up from his phone. He had been checking twitter again, asking around for other people’s plans to get some ideas.  
“Yea. You guys need some sleep”  
Jay went to grab the shirt from Jeff, putting his hand on his shoulder for a moment and smiling, leaving the living room with the lamp (since Jeff and Alex didn’t need it anymore), followed by the 3 others. Sparky quickly followed them when she noticed people were getting up, heckling, excited.

“Do you think we should leave again soon? Or can we stay a while longer?”  
Seth was the one to start the conversation, picking back up where they had stopped before. Jessie shrugged, looking at Tim and Jay.  
“Whatcha think?”  
Jay frowned.  
-“If I’m honest, I don’t really want to stay here for much longer. Maybe a week, but I don’t think we have enough stuff left around here to stay much longer than that”  
His fiancé agreed, tapping his fingers down on the table, thinking. It was true. Over the past weeks they had pretty much collected everything they could still find in the buildings around them, but by now there was nothing more left apart from some single tins and cans in some of the houses. They still had quite an amount of food, but it wouldn’t be enough to stay here forever.  
“Yea, he’s right. It’s pretty safe here, I guess, but we just don’t have enough food around here. Maybe we should go for another city?”  
The black-haired man on the other side of the table agreed, looking around the kitchen, thinking of any place nearby he knew.  
“I only know that there’s a smaller city a few miles from here that has a marketplace and big mall. Maybe that could be useful”  
-“Is it still within the coldspot?”  
“I wouldn’t know. I mean, we are pretty much right in the centre of one, so, maybe? Hey, jay, can you check maps?”  
The brunette immediately got out his phone, handing it to Noah for him to look for the city he meant. It luckily wasn’t too far away, only 12 miles, and he hoped that it would still be within the coldspot area.  
“It’s not that far. It shouldn’t be outside the coldspot”  
-“And hopefully has some food. Hey, maybe we will meet other people there”  
Seth had been mostly thinking about whether they would find other survivors, wondering how many were still left. Judging by the activity on social media it were a lot and he hoped that maybe once they moved places they could pick somebody up.  
“Yea, maybe…”

Jay, once he had his phone back, directly went to check Twitter. He wanted to look for nay updates, for anything people found out, but apart from others sharing their locations and plans nothing was new. Scrolling through his DMs he briefly skimmed every message, typing some answers, until he came across a very interesting one.  
His breath stopped for a moment.  
The message had been sent a few days ago.  
“Hey…Tim?”  
-“Hm?”  
“Do you… remember Michael?”  
Tim frowned a bit, wondering what had brought the topic up, stopping the tapping of his fingers.  
-“Yea. Why? What happened?”  
It took the taller man a moment to think about how to word his response, instead just handing Tim the phone to read the message. It was rather short but clear.

_“Hello. My name is Patrick.  
A while ago I was separated from my twin, Michael, and upon trying to find out where he was came across your Twitter. I already know he didn’t make it, but that’s not what I’m texting you about. I heard you are part of the “survivor group” and need to know if you could tell me where you are right now/where you’re going next. I’d like to join you_


	16. Outside Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jessie, Tim, Jay and Seth use their time to discuss the next steps, Jay unsure of how the meetup with Patrick will go, while Alex has to once again remind Jeff to think of his own wellbeing as well.

Hours passed quite quickly.  
The group in the kitchen was discussing, getting further away from the topic of the situation towards private and casual things, from basic things like favourite places to others like music taste and future plans. They recalled their time before the sun had disappeared, bathing in memories.  
“I really hope we can get back to our old house”  
Jay was fiddling with his collar, looking down, then at the other 3 men around him. Tim nodded in agreement, running a hand through his hair, tapping around on the back of his phone with his fingernails. thinking about his old home that they had to leave so quickly kind of made him sad but also wonder what their city was up to now.  
Maybe a bunch of creatures used their house as a resting place? Maybe somebody had died in there by now?  
-“Yea. I already miss it”  
“We had a nice garden! I’m sure all my plants have died already”  
Chuckling a little the brunette got up, going over to the fridge, getting a cold bottle of water. Seth, checking the time, looked over at Jessie, who was still on his phone, scrolling through social media. As usual, he was looking for any updates, not really coming across anything new however.  
“I was living in a pretty basic flat. Nothing big. 2 rooms. Enough for me and my dog, though”  
-“I had a house but really, more space than I needed.”  
“I can imagine. One whole house, for a single person? Yuck. Must be scary at night, eh?”  
Peeking down at Jessie’s phone he could catch a glimpse of the twitter feed, suddenly reminded of what Jay had said earlier.  
“Hey, do you think we should ask Jeff and Alex about the thing with the guy who wants to join us? And all the rest?”  
Looking up from his phone the black-haired man tilted his head, raising an eyebrow.  
-“Aren’t they sleeping?”  
“Nah, I’ve heard them talk and stuff”  
-”Maybe we shouldn’t disturb them then”  
“But they’re awake?”  
He was confused, Jay joining in, taking a sip of his water.  
“Jessie is right. They’ll come join us when they’re ready to get up.”  
-“Fine. I just wanna talk this out so we can start planning, yenno? Makes me nervous to not know what the plan is”

Alex and Jeff were lying face to face on their mattresses, both still feeling a little groggy. Alex hadn’t really been able to sleep much, thinking too much and making sure to watch over the man next to him, both lying close. They had talked a little for a while but now they were too exhausted to say anything anymore, both sunken in thought.  
It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence though; neither one of them felt pressured to say anything, just enjoying the other’s company. Jeff was the first one to say something again after a while though, fiddling with his fingers.  
“Alex? You didn’t sleep at all, did you”  
The taller male just nodded, not even denying it.  
-“Yea. I couldn’t”  
Once again, silence. Shuffling a little closer Alex put his hand down on the mattress, a bit closer to Jeff’s, without being too obvious about it.  
Maybe if he just… did it slowly…  
“I don’t wanna stay here any longer, Alex. But I don’t have the strength to leave yet”  
-“That’s perfectly understandable. Don’t push yourself. If you need rest you need rest. And there’s nothing wrong with that”  
“But we don’t have that much food left anymore and we can’t just, magically make some appear. We need to keep going.”  
-“Hey, Jeff, listen”  
Gently the brunette put a hand onto Jeff’s shoulder, who looked up at him, questioning and with a sad, tired shimmer in his eyes. Alex gave him a small, encouraging smile, stroking his shoulder a little bit.  
“You do enough for us already. You care for the house, you go on a lot of outside checks. You fixed my wounds. And not to mention, when we came home earlier you asked Jay how he was doing like nothing happened to you. You need a _break_ ”  
-“I mean… maybe you have a point. But what can I do? I can’t just lie down all day and mourn. Life goes on. And I have all of you with me, I can’t just focus on myself only. You guys are my friends”  
He sighed, still fiddling with his hands, looking down. Alex had a point; and just lying down for a few days to rest, doing nothing but nap and eat, sounded nice. But he knew if he did he would have no distraction from all the thoughts that made him so sad.  
Alex nodded a bit.  
“Just don’t stress yourself out too much, okay?”  
-“Fine. I’ll try and take it easy the next days”  
He scouted even closer, slightly nuzzling against Alex’s chest, who hesitantly and gently put his arm around him. Staying like this for a moment in which Jeff bit his lip he eventually looked up at the man holding him, smiling a little, about to lean in some more when steps interrupted him on his way there. He sat up quickly, a bit too quick maybe, his head starting to spin, looking over at the door.  
Jessie was standing in the doorframe, looking a bit like a child that had been caught stealing sweets when it wasn’t allowed to.  
“Am I interrupting? I’m sorry.”  
-“Ah, no, it’s fine. We were awake anyway.”  
“Sorry. We just wanted to all sit together and talk about something because Jay wants to ask you something.”  
-“Did something bad happen?”  
Jeff looked worried but the black-haired man shook his head, which made him exhale in relief.  
“Nothing bad. Another survivor just texted him but it’s a bit more complicated than that”  
-“Alright, we’ll be in the kitchen in a few. Just a moment”

Only a few moments later they joined the rest of the group in the kitchen, sitting down with them. Jay calmly explained what they had been talking about so far, their plans and the city with the marketplace Jessie had mentioned, finally coming to talk about the twitter message he received.  
“…and, yea. I don’t just want to invite somebody to the group without asking you first. And I think it’s best if we all together discuss when we want to leave and all that”  
Nodding Jeff was processing the things he heard, trying to decide quickly. Alex was standing near the door meanwhile, back leaning against the wall, the small dog bouncing around his feet.  
-“Hm. Of course he can join us. If you think that’s okay for you, Jay.”  
“Okay. I’ll let him know then.”  
-“And about the city, it sounds like a good idea. If there’s a mall and marketplace it hopefully has something useful for us there. How far is it?”  
“12 miles, I think?”  
Jessie nodded, checking the notes he had saved on his phone quickly to be sure.  
“Yes, 12 miles”  
-“Okay, that’s not that far. We can meet the new guy by the marketplace there. When did you want to leave? How much food do we still have?”  
Getting up from his chair Tim went over to the shelves, opening them, quickly checking how many cans they still had there. Mushroom soup, 2 cans. Potato soup. Canned tuna and veggies, 5 cans in total.  
“Well, for all of us this will maybe last us for. 3 days, I think”  
-“3 days? That’s not a lot”  
“Maybe we could leave tomorrow or the day after. The sooner the better.”  
-“Tomorrow sounds good. We could have breakfast together once everybody is up and then leave afterwards.”  
Tim nodded, closing the shelves again and turning to look back at the group, especially at his fiancé, who was typing on his phone.

While the others were planning when exactly they wanted to leave Jay had taken his phone again, quickly looking for the message from Patrick to respond to it. He hoped that he would read it soon, begging that he would even have a chance to check it. He didn’t want to imagine this poor guy wandering around outside somewhere with no phone all on his own.  
It was a weird thought, meeting Michael’s twin. Making him wonder how alike they were.  
Did they look the exact same?  
Were their voices the same too?  
He hoped they weren’t too similar. It would’ve reminded him too much of what happened.  
Several times he started writing a reply but just wasn’t sure how to word it. He didn’t even know what made it so hard for him; it was just a message after all. Nothing hard about writing “yes, sure, we will go to this city tomorrow, meet us there”. But it turned out to be more complicated than he expected.  
“You good?”  
Seth’s question made him flinch for a moment, ripping him out of his thoughts.  
-“Ah, yes. Just not sure if my answer is okay or, I don’t know. Awkward”  
“Can’t be that bad. Whatcha said?”  
handing his phone over to Seth to let him read the message he had typed out Jay fiddled with his sleeves, waiting for him to read it.

_“Hello there, Patrick.  
I’m sorry for what happened to Michael. If you want to, when can talk it out when we meet and I can tell you what exactly happened, if you don’t know yet.  
We would be happy to let you join in our group. Tomorrow, around lunch time, we want to head from our current location to a new city near us. I will send you the exact location we can meet at and you can just come with us. It won’t take us long to get there.  
I will let you know once we leave so you’ll know when to be there. Just let me know once you’ve read this so I can send you the location details.  
Looking forward to meeting you and hope you’re doing fine."_


	17. Congregation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once the group has left their old home they head towards the marketplace city, picking up Patrick, who offers to show them around the mall. The settle in a supermarket, going on a small tour around the mall, eventually finding something they didn't expect to even exist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW for some gore in this one!

After finishing their breakfast together, the group got to pack everything into their bags, rolling the mattresses together to take them with them. Sparky was bouncing around them all the time, excited, heckling and barking.  
Chatting away they carried everything towards their two cars, splitting up. Tim, Jay and Jessie sat in one car, Jeff, Alex and Seth in the other, followed by Sparky, who curled up on the back seat.  
Everything had been planned, Jay making sure that Patrick would be waiting for them when they arrived, sending him a message once they were in the car. It wasn’t far, only about 20 minutes, giving him enough time to come out from his hiding spot in the city’s mall and walk down the main road towards the open space that used to be full of people around this time.

It was a weird sight for him. He had been here before on weekends, wandering from one booth to the other, surrounded by people that bought veggies, meat and clothes. He never really bought anything himself, just looking, observing, glancing at every person passing him in hopes of finding a familiar face. He just had a gut feeling that he was here somewhere; something pulling him towards this place every time again to wait it out.  
The day he heard about what was happening he had been afraid that his loved one wouldn’t make it. He feared that they wouldn’t be able to meet this time, would die before they met or otherwise never find together. But luck was on his side. Michael had given him a valuable tip.  
He was sad his twin had died. He really was.  
But this wasn’t the last time they’d be doing this anyway, so his grief didn’t last too long.  
Walking up and down by the big arc that was the entrance to the marketplace he silently hummed to himself, one hand in his pocket, the other tightly gripping the handle of his axe. Ever since his first encounter with those beasts he carried it with him, just to be safe.  
Just in case.  
Checking the message again to see how long it would still take until they’d be here he smiled a bit, looking through Jay’s last Tweets. They weren’t anything exciting, mostly just little updates on where he was and what he’d been thinking about, asking for other’s plans. He didn’t even really come far with scrolling back when he already heard the sound of cars in the distance.  
One stopped on the side of the road right next to him, the door opening, light in the car turning on.  
“Hey there. Patrick, right?”  
-“Why yes, that’s me”  
“Hop in. We wanna go to the mall first”

Once Patrick sat in the car he relaxed a little, putting his axe to the side, running a hand through his hair.  
“Hi. I’m Jay. This is my fiancé, Tim, and this is his brother Jessie”  
-“Thanks for picking me up. I owe you one”  
Jay nodded in Patrick’s direction, looking up and down on him. He did expect him to look just like Michael, of course, but it still made his stomach tighten a bit.  
Unlike Michael, though, Patrick had much neater hair and clothes, looking like he had just freshly changed them today. His hair was brushed, definitely, his dress shirt clean white and tucked into his pants, and somehow his suspenders and bowtie completed the look he was going for.  
“How many are we?”  
-“Well, including me and you, we are now 7 people and a dog”  
“Neat. The mall is there, just around the corner. Some of the shops in there still have quite an amount of stuff we could use, so we can stay there”  
-“Do you think It’ll be enough for all of us?”  
“Definitely. The people here left so quickly that nobody really bothered to take anything with them, because they didn’t think that far I guess. They just left in a rush. Those things didn’t stay for long, though. When the hotspots shifted they left”  
-“Yea, they seem to stick with the warmer places. We already thought about what the reasons might be- we can discuss that all later, once we have found a place to stay at”  
The dirty-blonde on the backseat nodded, looking out the window, smiling a bit to himself.

Just about 10 minutes later they arrived at the mall, which was right in the centre of the city. Once parked in the parking lot they got out of the car, Patrick introducing himself to the rest of the group, going first in front of them. He helped them carry some of the stuff, taking a heavy bag from Jeff, who was more than helpful and took Seth’s backpack instead which was much lighter.  
“I’ve been staying in here for a while, in the back of the supermarket. We can just put everything there and then look around the mall together so I can show y’all what we have here”  
Noah nodded.  
-“Sounds good”  
The escalators didn’t work anymore, so the group just went up the stairs, heading towards the top floor. All the stores looked empty, obviously, but only a few had broken in windows, looking still mostly neat. A bit of rubbish was on the floor in some places, but it wasn’t much.   
Eventually they reached the supermarket, Seth sighing in relief. His arms hurt from pushing himself up the stairs and he needed to just sit down for a moment.  
“There we go. Just bring your stuff in, put it down in the far back, near the counter. I already have my things there”  
-“We will just put our beds down, then we can go on a little tour through the mall”  
Jeff smiled at the newcomer, thankful for his guidance, going into the store first. It was nice, seeing an environment that wasn’t as broken and messy as the ones before. The shelves were mostly neat, still quite full even, and except for one that had fallen over it all looked like the mall was simply closed.  
“Okay, just put your beds where you want, grab a snack, get ready.”  
-“Hey, Jeff?”  
The curly-haired man looked up at the taller brunette, who had just taken his glasses off, rubbing his eyes.  
“Yea?”  
-“Do you wanna put our mattresses together? Or, rather not?”  
“Oh, sure! I’d just feel safer lying in a corner, I hope that’s fine for you”  
-“Of course. You get the corner, I’ll be next to ya”  
“Alright! I’ll do that for us, you go drink something, you didn’t yet today”  
-“Yea, I will. Thank you for the reminder, _mum_ ”  
Jeff poked his tongue out at him jokingly, laughing a little, before turning to go prepare their beds.

About 20 minutes later everybody was done, Jeff grabbing his little pharmacy bag and putting it around his shoulders.  
Patrick went first again, leading them around the top floor first, past all the stores towards the stairs in the back. Seth was amazed at how many stores there were in just one building, coming from a smaller town where they didn’t have all that many shops, Jay excited to see things like Sanrio, a Build-A-Bear and Claire’s.  
“Oh, cute! We didn’t have those. Can we go there some time, Tim?”  
Tim chuckled a bit.  
-“How old are you, 5?”  
“Meanie! I just wanna see what kinda things they have. After all this stuff I could really use to see something else other than blood and dirt.”  
Going down the staircase Patrick whistled a little; it was no certain melody, a mashup of different songs, something to cut through the silence of the abandoned mall.  
“We can go down into the basement floor. There’s a bank there. Money is useless by now but, feeling rich for once could be fun”  
Seth nodded in excitement, Jeff agreeing as well, pinkie hooked together with Alex’s, who was walking right next to him.  
“You think we will ever need money again?”  
-“Realistically thinking, yes. Probably. Just, who knows how long it’ll take until things start going normal again”  
“You have a point. I wonder how long this will still go?”  
He unhooked his finger from Alex, now walking in front with Patrick, while they went further downstairs. The tall blonde shrugged.  
-“Who knows, honestly. But I’m pretty sure at some point things will get better.”  
“I just hope the sun comes back”  
-“Well, me too. But as long as we all stick together, things will turn out fine.”  
Jeff nodded, fiddling with his hair a bit, sharing a gaze with Alex behind him. He tried to smile and be encouraging, shrugging a bit.  
“Patrick is right. Things will be okay because we all have each other. And, I mean, right now, things seem to be pretty peaceful here”  
-“You’re right. Hey! There’s the bank!”  
“Wow, this is much bigger than expected”  
Jay looked around the room, Seth’s steps echoing through the lobby hall as he went farther in.  
-“The floor looks a bit dirty here, doesn’t it?”  
“Maybe because it’s the basement floor?”  
Tapping a stain on the floor with his crutches he tilted his head, tapping again, listening. It sounded weird. Hollow.  
“Is that a crack?”  
-“Crack? What do you mean?”  
“Here…”  
While the others stayed back, the brunette went even further towards the counters, passing the centre of the hall. More and more cracks seemed to rip through the floor here and he stepped towards a big one to investigate, stomping on it a bit as he felt the floor give in.

It happened so quick, he had no breath to even say anything when the tiles underneath him broke. Seth slipped at the sudden withdrawal of a floor, falling backwards, getting one foot caught in the hole underneath him. His back hit the tiles, a stinging pain rushing up his spine, arms waving.  
He barely knew what was happening, arms waving, trying to grasp onto the rim of the hole as he fell, already expecting to hardly hit the cold floor of the underground parking lot. Instead, he felt himself landing on something soft soon after, hearing steps rushing towards the opening in the floor.  
“Seth!”  
-“You okay, buddy?”  
He coughed, waving his hands to get dust clouds out of his face, seeing vague silhouettes above him looking down the hole.  
“Yea, I’m good-“  
Yelping he suddenly felt something on his leg. And then on his thigh. His waist. His arm.  
“Hey, where’s my flashlight? Just a sec-“  
The floor around Seth began moving, wiggling, slimey noises close to his ear. It took him a moment to realise what was happening, waving his arms around, unable to grasp onto anything solid. The smell down here was horrible; something of soil and mud, something rotting, but it was nothing he could’ve properly named.  
“Guys? Guys, fuck!”  
-“Just a sec!”  
Jeff finally had grasped his flashlight, hands shaking a bit, turning it on and lighting into the hole. The sight almost made him pass out on the spot, Alex having to hold him, grabbing his hand to prevent him from dropping the flashlight.  
Down in the hole he saw Seth, lying on a layer of red, moving floor. Squishy sounds echoed through the bank, Seth whining and wiggling, unable to get up or break free.  
He was being held down by multiple arms, tearing at him, digging their fingernails into him. Down in the basement, right under the bank’s floor, those creatures were likely stacked on top of each other, filling the room almost to the very ceiling. Some were already dead, crushed under the weight of the others, and a couple of them now beginning to pull Seth down with them.


	18. Maternal Instinct

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patrick turns out to be of more use than first expected, not only showing the group a safe space but also saving a life.

Patrick was quick to react.  
He gently pulled jeff aside a little, back from the hole, grabbing one of Seth’s crutches that had fallen over and slithered away from the crack a little. Kneeling down he held it into the hole, Alex understanding his plan and holding the flashlight for him to be able to see the brunette in the pit of moving flesh.  
“Here! Grab it and hold it as tight as you can!”  
Almost instinctively Seth immediately grabbed for the metal, clinging so tight his knuckles turned white, with both hands. Patrick pulled, feeling it move a little, even if just slightly.  
The creatures kept clawing at the man in their middle, digging their fingers into his legs and sides. He would’ve kicked or wiggled more but was unable to with his numb legs, whining in pain when something sliced him all the way down from his waist to his knee.  
-“Ouw!”  
“Just a bit, don’t let go!”  
The other men felt stunned for a moment, unsure what to do to help. Jeff was frozen in shock still, taking a while to wake himself from his state, grabbing for the flashlight. He had to help.  
“Alex, you help Patrick. I’ll get the light”  
Alex handed it over, nodding, standing behind Patrick and grabbing onto the crutch as well, the two now pulling together. They immediately felt it being a bit easier, pulling Seth up bit by bit.  
“We gotcha, buddy”  
-“It hurts!”  
“I know, I know, just a bit, don’t let go!”  
Progressively they pulled him up, Alex grabbing for his arms when they had him over the edge of the hole. Seth was breathing fast and heavily in shock, blood running down long scratches all over his body, crying.  
Jeff took his jacket off, wrapping it around the shaking male, gently pulling him into his arms, both of them sitting away from the cracks. He was shocked, tears wettening his cheeks, clinging to the man that was holding him and hiding his face in his chest like a frightened child. Gently Jeff rocked back and forth with him a little, careful to not touch any of his visible wounds, stroking his hair.  
The others joined them, sharing gazes, taking a moment to just calm Seth a little.  
“Thank you… thank you”  
-“Shhh, it’s fine. I’ll get you upstairs and care for your wounds, okay?”  
“Yea…”  
Alex looked at Jeff, then Patrick, and then Seth.  
“I’ll go with you, help you get him up. One of the crutches is gone now”  
-“Oh no…”  
The bleeding man rubbed his eyes, sniffing, interrupted by Patrick before he could even respond.  
“I’ll take the others and we’ll go and see how we can make him a new one. We’ll find something. There should be some gardening utensils, maybe some thin wooden planks, we’ll figure something out”  
Jay, Tim and Jessie nodded, encouragingly towards Seth, who could smile a bit. Even if he was unable to properly say it he was thankful, Alex and Jeff starting to help him up to make their way back to the supermarket.

Tim put one hand into his pocket, the other around Jay’s waist, looking at Patrick.  
“So. Where do we start?”  
-“Maybe somewhere we can get like. Gardening tools”  
The others nodded, Jessie looking around the room, towards the hole. The sounds coming from there really weren’t his favourite.  
“Maybe each of us should try and get some kind of weapon?”  
-“Not a bad point. I have one, but I can look for some for Jeff and Alex.”  
“Alright then. So, what do you think we could use to replace the missing crutch?”  
Patrick already started going back towards the stairs, the others following, trying to think of something. Tim was the first one to have an idea.  
“I once built a little hut for our garden, so I’m good with woodwork. Maybe if we can find pieces? Smaller, thinner ones, obviously. I could work with those.”  
Nodding Jay fiddled with his jacket, thinking.  
-“We’ll also need something to put on top, some sort of small cushion or anything so it won’t hurt”  
“Yea, any piece of cloth will do”  
-“Alright. There was like, one of those stores that has some small household furniture and other stuff. Maybe we’ll find something there? Take apart a chair or something?”  
The tall blonde just nodded at that, cheerfully turning towards the stairs, hands in his pant’s pocket and whistling again. It seemed like the accident didn’t bother him anymore at all, but Jessie didn’t want to point it out. After all, he guessed, Patrick just didn’t know Seth too well and therefore had no connection to him or what had happened.  
Although, he had to admit, it slightly creeped him out.  
“Alrighty then, do you think we need a powerdrill?”  
Tim shrugged, following after the man walking in front, holding his partner close by his waist.  
-“Not necessarily. I doubt we will find one anyway. Tape, a hammer and nails will do”  
“You think _that’s_ any easier to find?”  
The shorter male shrugged again, vaguely gesturing his hand a little.  
-“Anything will do, really. I’ll figure something out”

All they were able to gather were a few thin wooden planks that were supposed to be used to build a tiny bedside table. They weren’t really heavy but also not very strong, though the only ones the 4 men were able to find.  
As expected, no powerdrill were to be found. Jessie had eventually found a hammer though, Jay later finding some packs of nails, Tim hoping that they would be enough. Just to be safe, in case they weren’t, they gathered a few rolls of thick, silver tape as well, to wrap around the edge parts of the makeshift crutches. For the padding on top, to not have the hard wood hurt Seth under his arms when resting his body on the crutches, Jay had grabbed a small cushion and thin rope. It wasn’t perfect but they were determined, Patrick leading them through the mall, back to the supermarket they were resting in. Jeff was still busy with fixing Seth’s wounds, Alex strolling around the rows in search for wipes.  
“Hey, how’s it going?”  
Patrick knelt down next to the two on the mattress, Seth shrugging.  
-“It goes. I’m feeling better”  
“We got some stuff to make you a new crutch. Just might not be as great as yours”  
With a warm smile Jeff looked over at the newcomer, before turning back to caring for a wound on the brunette’s back. A pair of claws had digged quite deep into his flesh, luckily without wounding any internal organs, but deep enough to give him severe back pain. Jeff took the little bottle of disinfectant, slightly leaving a stain of it on a piece of cloth, pressing it onto the reddened area. Seth nodded, smiling through the pain from the alcohol on his wound, thankful.  
“Thank you. You can of course take the one I still have for measurements”  
-“Will do. And don’t worry, I know Jeff here will do an amazing job at fixing you.”  
The man with the curls chuckled a little, looking up when Alex approached them, holding 2 packs of bandages.  
“Here. This is all I could find. I can go look for a pharmacy around here or something, maybe I can find the thing you were looking for there-”  
Nodding towards Patrick he sat on the mattress next to Jeff, handing him over the bandages and grabbing for the pharmacy bag. The shorter male held his sleeve before he could get up however, shaking his head.  
“I’ll go, it’s fine. You stay here and help the others, maybe just look around for some food in here, okay? I’ll find something. Just gotta finish wrapping them up, or he will have them stick to his clothes”  
-“You sure you wanna go alone?”  
Jeff stopped in his movement for a moment to huff and smile at Alex before continuing to wipe the last bit of the wound. He appreciated the brunette’s worry and thought it was sweet, he really did, but it wasn’t any big, dangerous task to go down onto the second floor to quickly grab something from another store.  
“I’ll be fine. It’s not far or anything”  
-“Fine, if you want to. I just don’t really trust this place.”  
“To be fair, neither do I. But I’ll be okay. We’re okay now, Alex. Everything is fine.”


	19. Suspense

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the incident of almost losing Seth, things calm down again. As the days pass the group returns back to normality, coming together in the evening for a friendly chat.

The following days had been more or less uneventful. The group just sometimes walked around the mall, exploring other shops, looking what they could find there. Jay had absolutely _emptied_ most of the clothing shops, taken shirts and jackets, excusing it with the fact that he needed new clothes anyway. Tim had grabbed a few new flannels from a nearby clothing store, all 4 of them looking pretty much the same, just in different colours.  
Seth had gotten used to his new crutch quickly, loving it dearly. It was quite simple, looking essentially like a square of thin, wooden planks with longer “feet” and a cushion on top, as well as a middle plank for him to hold onto, but it worked. It was half taped together, half put together with nails; Tim had made sure to make sure it was the exact same length as the other crutch. Lovingly Jeff had painted it with some acrylic paint he had fished from a shelf in an art supplies shop one floor down, drawing little flowers and vines on it, before asking everybody in the group to leave their signature on it.  
The shock of Seth almost dying had faded rather quickly when Jeff had assured everybody he wasn’t badly or deadly wounded. The scratches looked bad since they had bled a lot but were only shallow, not reaching deep. Barely anything was left of them, wounds healing nicely. Every day Jeff wrapped new bandages if needed, checking to make sure they weren’t getting infected.

“Hey, Patrick”  
-“Hm?”  
The blonde, who had been changing, turned around towards the voice calling for him, his eyes landing on Jay.  
“Oh! Uh- am I. Interrupting-?”  
He looked away quickly, shielding his eyes with his hands, the taller male chuckling a bit. _Adorable_.  
“Nah, not at all. What’s it?”  
-“We wanted to play truth or dare! You joinin’ us?”  
“Sure, why not? Sounds fun”  
Playing little games and just walking around had been how they mostly made time pass, now that they were sure this area was safe. Every now and then two of them went down into the bank, to check the hole, but they were pretty sure that none of those things would just crawl out. It was pretty much impossible for them to do so without help from outside of the hole, so they weren’t too worried.

Soon after all 7 of them were sitting in a circle. Jeff had put up the flashlight, standing upright between 3 expired jam glasses, alu foil flat on top. This made the light spread out some more without just lighting straight at the ceiling, and helped them to be able to see each other some better, even if it wasn’t ideal.  
“Alright! Who wants to start?”  
Jay was excited, sitting next to Tim, looking around at the others. Jeff smiled, giggling a bit.  
“If you’re so excited, why don’t you start?”  
-“Bad idea, he will ask something mean. Let the newbie start”  
Tim chimed in, chuckling when Jay pouted and softly hit his shoulder in protest. The tall, new member of the group didn’t hesitate to take this opportunity however, looking around the men in the circle, thinking for a moment.  
“Well. Jeff, then. Truth or dare?”  
-“Truth!”  
“Okay. Would you kiss Alex?”  
-“You can’t just ask that!”  
“Be glad I didn’t pick dare! Would you?”  
The others laughed, Alex flushing a bit, smiling in satisfaction however. After all that had happened so far, the past days really helped them to calm a little, feeling almost normal. Not only that, it was also an opportunity to get to know more about their new member, as the game stirred conversation between them. Soon enough, after sharing personal views and always picking Alex to do the dares, they shifted from truth or dare to talk about the situation and private things again.

Time passed rather quickly as they were talking, each member telling a quick, short version of their story from the beginning of the events until now. Patrick, allover, didn’t say much about himself. All they got to know was that he had a sibling and used to have a twin, Michael. He was originally from Denver, used to have a pet dog, but that was everything he really revealed.  
Tim wasn’t fond of him. He wasn’t sure if it was the way he talked, or if it was how he kept looking at Jay all the time. Everybody else seemed to like him though, so he guessed that maybe he was just tired and read the situation wrong. But still, the feeling of something being off about him didn’t let him go all the time.  
Mostly they talked about their lives before and plans for the future, speculating about what was happening and what would happen. Seth brought up his “Alien-Theory” again, which Patrick listened to, thinking, nodding along. Jessie seemed excited by it, interested.  
“Well. It sounds really plausible. And, to be fair, explains a lot of things. So I think you’re onto something there, champ”  
Seth grinned, Tim rolling his eyes.  
 _“Champ”. Ridiculous.  
_ “Those beasts don’t look like anything I have ever seen before. I doubt they’re just a bunch of mutated animals. And they don’t look human either but don’t seem to be dumb”  
-“Yea. They know exactly what to look for and where people would be. They even team up to corner prey. And, most importantly, they only go after humans. And all the clicking and red light stuff? Seems shady”  
"Absolutely shady! Like, they don't go after anything but humans. They have to have _some_ sort of intelligence"  
Jessie discussed with Patrick and Seth in further detail, Tim noticing he really started to attach to Seth, the two of them getting along well. He smiled a bit, happy to see his brother doing well.   
Leaning his head against his fiancé’s shoulder Jay yawned a bit, which interrupted him speaking for a moment.  
“But do you think some kind of UFO covers the sun?”  
_”Well. It sounds dumb but, yes, that’s what I assume. I’m not sure if it’s just me but I heard a weird almost roaring noise before coming from above. It sort of sounds like a car driving but much deeper and way more far away. It’s too dark to really say anything for certain, though”  
“Hm. Yea, we can’t see it. Obviously. I just kind of hope it’ll be over soon”  
-“Speaking of those things. I wanna go check downstairs again, just to be sure. I’ll head out for today and will go to bed after. We’ve been talking for hours”  
Jessie nodded, watching Patrick get up and grab his axe from the cashier desk, checking the time on his phone. 1:12 am. Bed time.

Flopping down onto his makeshift-bed Jeff shifted a bit, sitting up again when he saw Jay grab his mattress and pulling it away from their collective sleeping place. Tilting his head he watched for a moment.  
“Where you going, Jay?”  
-“Oh, Tim and I are moving our beds to the other side of the supermarket. Just to, you know. Have some privacy I guess. We gotta talk about some stuff.”  
“I see, I see. Goodnight”  
-“G’night!”  
Laying back down the brunette curled up a bit, looking over at Alex who had his back turned towards him, probably already asleep. But he wasn’t sure.  
“Alex?”  
His voice was only a whisper, to not wake him up in case he wasn’t yet asleep. He got no answer though, shuffling a little closer, nuzzling his face into the tall man’s back.  
Alex smiled to himself a little, though with a heavy feeling in his stomach. He felt guilty. There had been a few things he didn’t tell Jeff yet, would overwhelm him with after they slept, and tried to prepare himself a bit for how to tell him. In his head he went through different variations of how to say it, trying to settle on one option to not be at a loss of words tomorrow.  
A buzz of his phone when he received a notification ripped him away from his thoughts for a moment, both making the tug in his chest worse but also lightening it a bit.

_“Omw! Can’t wait”_


	20. When the party's over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alex should've told him sooner.

The blonde, chubby lady was a little shorter than Jeff, her straight hair shoulder long. She seemed to have cut her bangs herself, as they were a bit messy, some parts longer, the other shorter. The oversized hoodie she wore hang down on her, slightly dirty in some places, her jeans ripped here and there. Other than that, she didn’t look hurt, just stained from wandering around outside.  
“Alex!”  
Her steps made little pit-pat sounds as she ran towards her boyfriend, arms spread, hugging him close and burying her face in his chest. He caressed her back, kissing her on top of the head, still barely able to believe that she was alive.  
Alex had barely told Jeff yesterday, in a rush- hadn’t given him any time to properly think about it. He didn’t want to hurt him too much by dragging it out. But the truth was, Amy had already called him about a week and a half ago when he had been on an outside check, and there they had started to plan when she could pick him up with their old ford. It wasn’t ideal to leave like this but now it was too late to change back anyway.  
He felt responsible for her. It was the right thing to go back.  
It had been a shock for him too - to hear the voice of his, as he believed, dead girlfriend again. But she had explained everything. How they got separated and she believed she was doomed to die but had been able to run from those beasts long enough to hide in a nearby store where she waited until they lost interest in searching for her and gave up. How she had teamed up with another lady she met along the way, Jessica, who eventually became quite a good friend of hers in those 2 months. How Jessica died and she just left, in her car, drove far away to get away from the hotspot after they shifted. How she finally found a working phone to call him. How soon after she had decided to find Alex.

Jeff stood 2 steps away, hands folded together, watching them.  
“Amy!“  
-“Alex! I’m so glad you’re doing fine. What happened to your face?”  
The tall brunette shrugged it off, a bit embarrassed. He had almost forgotten about the big, long scars painting the left half of his face.  
“Well, those things got to me. But Jeff fixed my injuries for me”  
Amy looked over at the curly-haired man, letting go of Alex and coming towards him. She smiled warmly, shaking his hand, thankful.  
“Thank you so, so much for taking care of Alex for me. And for helping him out! Without you he’d be dead by now”  
-“Not a big deal. I like to help. So, what are your plans now?”

Alex came closer, joining them. A stinging pain in his chest prevented him from looking into Jeff’s eyes. He just couldn’t - it stirred guilt inside him he wasn’t able to handle. Technically, he knew that going with Amy was the right choice. After all, they were a couple, and it was his responsibility to keep her safe. And he loved her, he did. But still, this other line of thought, the one that was about Jeff, wouldn’t let go of him.  
“Well. I think we’ll head back to our old place? It was in a hotspot before, so chances are now it won’t be any longer- Maybe we can just move back into our house.”  
-“I hope it’ll be safe. Should be. But just saying, if you want to, you can always come join us again. Just let me know”  
She laughed a little, nodding, leaning against Alex’s side, who ran a hand through his hair. Thinking about going back was weird, but he guessed that would fade with time. And having a proper bed did sound nice after sleeping on mattresses on the floor for so long.  
Jeff smiled, eyes meeting Alex’s for a moment, looking away quick, back at Amy.  
“You have my number. Give me a call when you’re home or just check in any time soon. Just wanna make sure you’re doing okay.”  
-“We will!”  
Her smile was wide and bright, giving Jeff a tight hug, before taking Alex’s hand. They looked at each other, Alex still debating if he should hug Jeff too, but deciding not to. Maybe it would’ve made it a bit easier.

Watching them head towards the exit of the mall Jeff still stood in place for a while, shifting his weight from the tip of his feet to the back, slightly swaying. His hands were still folded together, now slightly cramping up, grasping his left hand with his right one. He clawed, tightly, feeling himself shaking.  
 _Why was he crying?_  
It was hard to swallow down the urge to run after Alex. Maybe tell him what he really felt; maybe hug him. In his head, he made up this big, sweet scenario.  
They could be together. Maybe Amy would understand.  
they could continue being there for each other, hug, kiss, all those little things they didn’t do before and that he now regretted not doing. So many missed chances to let Alex know that he loved being around him, loved talking to him. He had so many chances he never took because he didn’t want to rush and thought they had so much more time.  
A stinging in his hand brought him back to reality, ripping him out of his dreams. He had digged his fingernails so hard into his palm he had drawn a bit of blood, sighing, hissing in pain and being interrupted by a sob that was louder than expected.  
Almost shocked at the fact that he was crying he pressed his hands onto his mouth, shaking more violently.

Once he had become aware of it he felt it crash down on him with all of it’s force, pulling him to his knees with a thud. The hand on his mouth pressed against his lips more, trying to muffle any sobs that came over them as he hunched over, curling in on himself.  
 _Why was he crying?  
They had known each other for barely a couple of months.  
_Jeff tried to get up but was unable to. His entire body felt weak, especially his legs, keeping him down on the cold tile floor of the entrance hall. His silent whines echoed through the empty building, jumping off the walls, multiplying until they faded into nothing. He was almost sure the others could hear it, trying to pull himself back together, but the tears wouldn’t stop to spill out of his big, round deer eyes. And he promised himself to never let the others see him crying again.  
He didn’t want to worry them. He was fine.  
 _But why was he crying?  
_ Sure, he and Alex had something. And yes, maybe it was something special he had never really felt this way before. Maybe it was something true, something tender and loving; something that made him feel strong and beautiful, something reminding him of his worth. Something that gave him butterflies and this wonderful, fuzzy feeling in his stomach just when sitting near him. But at the end of the day, _he_ didn’t matter. What mattered were the others. Jessie and Seth and Jay and _Alex_.  
Amy had been so nice. He was sure she treated him wonderfully and was the right choice.  
Jeff felt like he had no right to cry over a taken man, no matter what their – something – had been. Alex wasn’t his, wasn’t meant to be, and would never be. He had a girlfriend.  
 _So why was he still crying?_


End file.
